Broken Path
by MakoEyes13
Summary: Slight AU. Post ch. 305. Takes place directly after Sasuke is reunited with Naruto and Sakura. After battling Naruto, Sasuke is betrayed by Orochimaru and leaves. It is nearly 2 years later when Sasuke returns to Konoha. Full Summary inside.
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

**Slight AU. Post ch. 305. Takes place directly after Sasuke is reunited with Naruto and Sakura. After battling Naruto, Sasuke is betrayed by Orochimaru and leaves. It is nearly 2 ½ years later when Sasuke returns to Konoha. With no word about Orochimaru or Itachi, Sasuke nearly gives up hope. But just when you're about to give up, fate has a way of blindsiding you. **

**Bet you all thought I was dead! I was digging through my old messenger bag full of papers when I found this story. I was real excited so I had to post it. This is my first and only Naruto story. As usual my pairings are unorthodox but very fun. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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**Chapter 1: The Meeting **

The orange sun was slowly setting over a village in the fire country. The residents of Konohagakure were closing their shops up. Vendors on the street were packing up their wares and preparing for the trips home. Store owners were trying to close up their shops in order to get home before night fell. Everyone was closing up the day except for the bar owners who relished the business that the nighttime brought them. Like the shop owners late shoppers also wanted to get home before night fell on them. Mothers and fathers walked their children home while they held one another's hand. It seemed like everyone was trying to beat the impending darkness. Everyone except for one young man.

A young man no more than seventeen years of age stood on a cliff watching the sun set over the mountains. He was sort of tall at 185.4 cm. and he weighed approximately 83.2 kg. (A.N: That's about 6 ft 1 in. and 183 pounds.) His body was lanky but muscular and well filled out. Being overly muscular didn't concern him as he didn't even like the look. Long ebony hair fell just past shoulder length; long thick strands hung down in front of his face. The hair slightly obscuring the view of his pale skin. Ask anyone and they would say that he had grown up a lot. His facial features were sharp and very striking. He was a handsome young man (some would say beautiful) whose face remained unmarred by the years and years of fighting. Despite his good looks he gave off a very dangerous aura that would frighten almost anyone.

It was almost impossible to see the young man in the waning daylight. He was wearing a black, calf length trench coat made entirely of leather. Sewn onto the back of the coat was a red and white paper fan, the symbol of his family. He was wearing a black high collar shirt that covered his neck. The top three buttons of the shirt were left undone, revealing his muscular chest. Keeping with the color scheme of his outfit his pants were black and rather loose fitting. His feet were clad in the typical sandals that were worn by most shinobi. His hands were clad in fingerless leather gloves with a metal plate over the back of the hand. Across his head was a black hitai-ate that bore a metal plate with his village's symbol carved into the center. This served to show that he not only came from Konoha but was also a ninja.

Uchiha Sasuke stared down at the picturesque setting below him. Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was set aglow by the orange sun. His ice cold eyes the color of the night held a small flicker in them from the lights below. The 'Uchiha Avenger' loved the nightlife. 'Uchiha Avenger', hah, that was a joke. It had been years and he was no closer to finding the man that had slaughtered his entire family. Though he couldn't find the man he found that he was becoming like the man himself. Every day made him a little colder, darker and more cunning. Sasuke's whole life since the age of eight was spent trying to gain revenge and restore his noble clan. Though with every passing day it seemed less and less likely that that he would get his revenge.

A strong breeze blew around him. The breeze was warm and just strong enough that it could make his trench coat flutter in the wind. As usual when he came to this spot, Sasuke contemplated why he even bothered to come back to Konoha. More often than not he couldn't come up with a good reason. After defecting from the village in order to receive training from one of the villages most feared enemies; there were very few people that trusted him. There was always his large group of fan girls, a couple of teammates and his old sensei. There were just so many watchful eyes on him that he wondered if what he had was really worth it. It wasn't like he could blame any of them though. Sometimes he wished that he could just go back to Orochimaru and continue his life as a criminal. Of course by now that was far from possible. And at times like this there was only one thing that kept him grounded. His determination for revenge.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up from the scene below. He recognized the smoothness of the voice that had addressed him. There was no friendliness, no hate, just a cool and crisp voice. "What is it Shino?" Sasuke turned around and raised an eyebrow. "A meeting?"

Shino pushed his pince-nez sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Tonight. Ten minutes." That was Shino. Quick and always to the point.

"We had better hurry."

Sasuke walked up to his companion and the two of them fell in step with one another. Shino hadn't changed much since the last time Sasuke saw him before leaving the village. Of course some things were expected to change. For example the fact that he was maybe just an inch or two taller than Sasuke. His skills as a shinobi had also grown quite considerably since his Genin days. He still wore his dark earth colored hair in the same unusual messy style has he had years ago. He still kept his eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses. The people that had managed to see his eyes over the past seventeen years could be counted on one hand. He wore a black heavy shirt with a high collar that covered the lower portion of his face. He wore a dark green jack, unbuttoned, with the hood down over his face. To those who didn't know the young Aburame he was sort of an enigma. Even to those who did know him he was a mystery. That's just the kind of person that he was.

The two ninja set off on a path that would lead them down towards the village. Neither of the men talked and neither of them needed to. It was an unlikely pair but since coming back to the village the two of them had become pretty close friends. After all it was sort of hard for two such similar people to not get along. It wasn't as if the two of them talked a lot but then again they didn't need to talk to one another half of the time. They could just understand each other so well that they didn't even need words too often. For example: Despite Sasuke's perfected mask of icy coldness, Shino could tell that there was something wrong with the Uchiha.

"Something on your mind." It wasn't a question but a blunt statement from the Aburame.

"Is there a point in lying?"

"Sorry boss. No."

Sasuke hated to be called boss. "I told you not to call me that," he said lowly. "I'm your captain. But don't call me that either."

Sasuke and Shino had joined Konoha's ANBU unit just last year. The ANBU were considered the most elite of ninja and Shino and Sasuke had made it in with no problems. For better efficiency the ANBU had been divided into teams of three. Sasuke was the captain of his team and Shino was his second in command. As a result of their missions together and unusual friendship the two of them had formed an unspoken bond. Even going as far to trust one another with their very lives.

Shino didn't say anything to this. He wasn't the type of person to pry into others lives unnecessarily. Also Sasuke was a very private person and being one himself Shino knew the need for secrets. The two ANBU members veered off into the woods, heading for the meeting place. As soon as the two of them walked into the forest they lost what little light was left. The woods around Konoha were so dense that very little light made it through, even on sunny days. Sasuke led the way down the narrow path. He was used to the dark and his keen eyes were well adjusted. As he walked through the dark woods he couldn't help but feel something burning at the back of his mind. He couldn't think about what it was but he had a bad feeling about this meeting.

"There is something strange about all of this," he stated, barely above a whisper.

Despite it being so quiet Shino was able to easily hear. He arched an eyebrow behind his glasses and asked, "You have the feeling to?"

Sasuke nodded. "Something is changing."

Sasuke didn't want to admit to Shino that he was having bad feelings about the upcoming meeting. It didn't exactly inspire confidence if the leader of your team was having those kinds of feelings. The two Jonins continued until they reached the clearing in the middle of the woods where the meetings took place. Sasuke glanced around the clearing and saw that most of the other ANBU were present. Normally they would all be wearing masks but it seemed that no one had theirs on. Most likely due to the fact that they had all assembled on such short notice. He took another look around the clearing taking notice of the different teams.

The first team that caught Sasuke's attention was team _Ookami. _Each team name and mask was chosen by the members of the team themselves. The leader of team _Ookami_ was none other than Hyuga Neji. Neji was the first of the new ANBU to become a Jonin and he joined the ANBU at the same time Sasuke did. Neji was standing against a tree on the other side of the clearing. Standing next to him were his teammates Akimichi Choji and Haruno Sakura. The three of them hadn't changed much, at least in Sasuke's opinion. Neji was a handsome young man as well but he was still arrogant and a bit of an asshole. There were very few people that Neji trusted but those he did trust had a great ally. Choji had become even larger than he was previously but had put on more muscle as well. He had also gotten taller and his reddish brown hair had become even longer. Sakura, well she was still Sakura. While she had grown into a pretty young woman and a talented kunoichi; Sasuke thought she was still annoying. Despite having been teammates with her in the past she was one of the few people that Sasuke showed open dislike for, even though she showed nothing but affection towards him.

Sasuke's cold eyes moved on to the second team in the clearing. Team _Kitsune _consisted of an even more annoying group of people. Though both Sasuke and Shino had to admit that the team's leader, Nara Shikamaru, wasn't that bad. Shikamaru was the same lazy, pony tailed genius that everyone had come to love. With an I.Q. of well over 200 it was obvious why he was the leader of his team. Shikamaru was a genius strategist and would do anything to protect his friends. He was certainly more grounded than the other two members of his team. Though seeing as the other two members of his team were Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino this was no surprise. Ino had only grown even more beautiful over the years. The blond kept her hair styled in the same ponytail and thick tresses that hung down in front of her face. Gorgeous sea blue eyes, belonging to an equally gorgeous face, sparkled slightly in the moonlight. Naruto, the number one knuckle headed ninja, was the same as ever. The blond boy had grown taller and more powerful but in Sasuke's eyes he was still the same loudmouth. Despite having a small amount of respect for the young Kyuubi container he still hated Naruto with a passion. He doubted that that would ever change. Even though this was considered one of the weirdest teams it was a good one with a perfect mixture of strategy and power.

"Seems like everyone is here," Sasuke said disinterestedly,

Shino glanced covertly around the clearing from behind his glasses. "Actually. We're one short a full deck."

"…So it would seem."

They were indeed missing a member of their team. It was odd considering that the kunoichi was never late. "Sasuke-kun! Shino-kun!" The two Jonin rolled their eyes in annoyance. All the years hadn't changed the fact that Naruto was loud. "I didn't think you were going to show."

Shino responded to Naruto not wanting to be rude. "I had to get Sasuke." He knew that he sounded a little gruff but there was something about Naruto that got his blood boiling.

"Yeah! That reminds me! Sakura told me to tell you that she's worried about you. You know we really haven't seen you much lately!" He said with an idiotic grin.

"It's a shame," Sasuke responded coolly.

Naruto decided that he would ignore the sarcasm and immediately changed the subject. "Yeah it is. Do you guys know what this meeting is about?! I've got a really bad feeling about this?!"

Shino and Sasuke shared a quick side glance. Neither of the dark shinobi wanted to admit that they were also having bad feelings about everything. Until their leader showed up they could only wonder why the meeting had been called. In response to Naruto's question the two of them just remained silent.

"Well I bet it's something really important! I can't wait to accept this mission!" Naruto cried in excitement.

"Hey." Naruto turned to look at the dark haired Uchiha with a grin on his face. Sasuke glared back at him. "Stop acting like a kid," he said coldly.

In response to the insult Naruto growled and bared his teeth. "Shut up Sasuke-teme. Unless you want me to kick your ass again!" The blond grinned cockily and pointed his finger in Sasuke's face.

"Hn! Like last time?" Sasuke asked in his Uchiha drawl.

For once the hyperactive ninja had no comeback. The last couple of times that he faced off with Sasuke things had ended unfavorably for him. In fact, in their last fight Naruto had been completely trashed. Sometimes he wondered if he was ever able to keep up with Sasuke in the first place. Right now though that didn't matter to him. It was enough just to have the Uchiha back on their side. Even though he didn't seem to notice that Sasuke wanted nothing to do with him. Luckily though he was spared the embarrassment of coming up with a response.

"Hey guys!"

The three ANBU turned around and saw a young girl running towards them. She stopped just short of the three boys trying to catch her breath. Her head was bent low so that all they could see was the top of her head. Her brunette hair was pulled up into two neatly tied buns n the top of her head. Her skin tone was somewhere between pale and tan, not too dark but not too light. She was dressed in a pink Chinese style blouse embroidered with two dragons. The blouse was held closed by button closures near the neck and shoulder. Her pants were like the traditional pants that most shinobi wore, the only difference being that they were a dark green in color. All up and down both legs were pouches containing kunai, shuriken and various other ninja tools. Unlike most other ninjas she wore a pair of black heeled shoes with an open toe.

Naruto giggled childishly at the girl. "That's the problem with women. They're always late."

The young woman slowly lifted her head; a cold glare had taken over a pair of coffee brown eyes. The girl had a pretty heart shaped face that was a little flushed from running for so long. In fact if she hadn't currently been glaring at Naruto she would have looked beautiful. But if there was one thing that could always annoy her then that would be Naruto. She reached down towards one of the pouches and clicked it open. Her long slender fingers drew a kunai from the pouch with great speed and she immediately pointed the weapon at Naruto.

Suddenly a somewhat crazed grin spread over her face, scaring the daylights out of Naruto. "Say that again," she growled.

"Aaaaoooohhhhh! Tenten, I'm just kidding!" He cried, cowering in fear.

Sasuke watched the whole scene before him with an indifferent expression. He didn't care if Tenten threatened Naruto but the blond boy was starting to give him a headache. "Naruto…"

The panicking Naruto shrunk away from Tenten and walked closer to Sasuke. He decided that Sasuke's scary tone was preferable to a kunai wielding Tenten. "Wh-what is it Sasuke?" The Uchiha's only response was to point at something behind Naruto. "Oh no! There at it again!" Naruto cried, running off.

Sasuke, Shino and Tenten were treated to the sight of Naruto trying to pull a furious Ino away from Shikamaru. The latter wore an annoyed expression as he merely sat down and leaned against the tree. Tenten lowered the weapon and placed it back in its pouch. She turned towards Sasuke with a gracious smile on her face. She looked much different from when she was glaring at the other boy.

"Thanks for that!"

"…Whatever."

Tenten watched her leader walk over and lean against a tree as was his usual behavior during a meeting. Sasuke took a moment to look at the other two members of his team. Sasuke was the captain of team _Karasu_. (A.N: Karasu can be translated to be either crow or raven. It will mean raven for the purpose of my story.) His team was named such because of their unrivaled kill record. Before Tenten joined the ANBU Sasuke and Shino had taken many assassination missions and passed them easily and with no regrets. As such they were known as _Karasu,_ which were often said to be the harbingers of death. Tenten also accepted assassinations but was less inclined to kill than her two teammates.

Tenten's coffee colored eyes remained on Sasuke. Being around Neji for so long should have taught her how to deal with guys that have standoffish attitudes. Sasuke and Shino on the other hand were different. She had only known the two of them for a short while but she knew that they were both colder than even Neji. She hated to admit it but the Uchiha prodigy scared her. More often than not just his stare was enough to make her freeze in fear. How could she be so afraid of someone that she barely knew? Maybe there was more to him than meets the eye? She glanced over into his cold onyx eyes and shook her head. Nothing but ice. Shino was a lot like their leader. It wasn't just the fact that he had bugs living in him that made him scary either. Shino was fierce and unforgiving when in battle and often his methods seemed cruel. Just like Sasuke he never seemed to show emotion and he had the same mysterious air as the Uchiha.

"So…am I late?" Tenten asked, trying to break the ever present tension between her and her teammates.

"…Just on time," Shino answered in a monotone. He shoved his hands in his pockets and gazed out at Tenten from underneath shaded eyes.

"Che! Like you can ever be late to a meeting," Sasuke replied.

Tenten nodded. "True. So, any idea what this meeting is about." Neither of them said anything, acting once again as if the person that asked the question barely existed. The brunette sighed and shook her head. "Probably just another assassination job."

A small bang followed by a puff of smoke announced the arrival of their illustrious leader. A tall, lanky young man with white hair appeared in the middle of the clearing. He was dressed in the garb and equipment of a typical Chunin but was so much more. He wore a pair of black pants, a long sleeved black shirt and the dark green tactical vests of the higer ninja ranks. The lower portion of his face was covered by his mask and his left eye was covered by his hitai-ate. In his hand was a book with a title that read Ich-Icha Paradise. He glanced around the field with his visible eye noting all of the other ninja that were standing around him.

"What?" He asked in a seemingly clueless tone. "Is there something on my face?"

"What do you mean what?!" Naruto cried. "You are late again and you act like it's no big deal!"

Ino scratched the back of her head and leaned against a tree. "He's always late. What's the big deal?" Naruto turned and glared at the girl out of the corner of his eye.

"So why are you late this time?" Sakura nearly shouted at her former sensei.

Kakashi turned to look at her with a blank look in his eye. "I took the impending fog as a bad omen and hesitated."

Just about everyone in the clearing groaned at the lame excuse that the famous copy ninja used. After an attack gravely injured Morino Ibiki some time ago, Hatake Kakashi had been asked to lead the ANBU. Of course Ibiki was still a vital part of the ANBU interrogation squad. Sasuke merely looked down at the ground as if he weren't paying attention to the world around him. He hadn't groaned like most of the others or even showed any indication that he noticed the arrival of their leader. By now he had become use to Kakashi's excuses and just accepted them without question. Besides he rarely spoke to anyone besides Shino, Kakashi and on the rare occasion Shikamaru. Most of the other people in the village still saw him as the traitor. He didn't care what they thought and did nothing to dissuade them of their beliefs. It wasn't his primary concern and probably never would be.

"If you are all done," Neji began coolly, "could we get on with this?"

With his one visible eye Kakashi glanced over at the Hyuga prodigy. "Always to the point. Where is team _Tora?_"

"They haven't returned from their mission yet," Choji replied.

"I guess that we will have to start without them then." Kakashi stated in his drawl. "As you have noticed we are meeting in the forest tonight instead of head quarters. This is because of the severity of our mission. The Hokage has declared this a S-Rank mission." Suddenly Kakashi had the undivided attention everyone in the clearing. "With the danger of an A-Rank mission."

"A mission with S-Rank importance and A-Rank danger severity?" Shikamaru asked in slight surprise.

"I've never even heard of anything like this before!" Tenten exclaimed.

There was a murmur of general agreement among the rest of the ANBU; only Shino and Sasuke remained completely silent. The young Uchiha stared at his former sensei with narrowed eyes. He had known Kakashi long enough to know when to be quiet. The older shinobiobviously had something to important to say. So far they hadn't even been properly briefed on the mission. There had to be a reason that the mission was so crucial as to warrant it's ranks.

"So what's this mission anyways?!" Naruto asked loudly with his cocky grin in place.

"Actually I was just getting to that." Kakashi pulled a kunai and a piece of paper out of his pocket. He turned around and nailed the piece of paper to a tree with his knife. The others turned to look at the paper and saw that it was a picture of a young man. "A couple of hours ago a request was made by Sunagakure for our ANBU to carry out an assasination on this man."

"Suna has their own ninja," Sakura said. The tone of her voice suggested that she was more than a little annoyed. "Why can't they do it themselves?"

"For a very good reason I assure you. The man that you see here is named Kazeno Takeshi. He's a represenative from the Village Hidden of the Cloud. He's also allegedly been involved with the massive slaughter in the Village of the Rain two years ago."

'_I still don't get why Sunagakure couldn't do this. What is Gaara so worried about that he would entrust this mission to us?' _Sasuke thought to himself.

Kakashi leaned against a tree and closed his eyes. "Presently Sunagakure is at war with the Hidden Village of the Rock. Information obtained by a Suna spy states that Kazeno is coming to form an alliance with Tsuchikage."

"So that's why Sunagakure can't send their own men," Sasuke replied.

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. If word got back that they were the ones that carried out the assassination, retaliation would come swiftly."

"Why would the Raikage want to wage war against Suna?" Neji asked.

"We don't know," Kakashi answered.

"More importanly, why did we accept this mission?" Shikamaru asked.

Shino fixed his glasses and gave a slight nod. "Carrying out the assassination would put our danger in village as well," he stated calmly.

"It seems that you guys are one step ahead of me as usual." Kakashi suddenly became very silent and the air around them grew chilly.

"...You want to say something Kakashi." Kakashi's eye opened and he turned to look at Sasuke. Sasuke leaned back against his tree never breaking eye contact with his leader.

"Hm. As Shino said, it would indeed put our village in danger. Also our operatives. Kazeno has set up a small base of operations on the Konoha border. It is very likely that he will be heavily guarded. Anyone who enters is required to wear a chakra dampening device. A chakra detection barrier has been erected to detect any who try to infiltrate the base. It will pick up even the smallest of chakra signatures."

"That would make it hard for a team to get inside," Neji replied.

Kakashi sighed. "That's why we will only be sending one of you."

"What?!" Naruto cried. "But that's suicide!"

"Exactly," Kakashi deapanned. "Whoever gets sent on this mission it would be preferred if you didn't come back." Every eye in the clearing widened, save for the two stoic shinobi of team _Karasu. _

"Shouldn't we send a team then?" Choji asked.

"Yeah it would increase chances of survival!" Sakura agreed.

"All it would do is mean more of you to die. That is why we can only send one." This was the hardest thing that Kakashi ever had to do. "I can't force any of you to take this mission. All we need is one volunteer. Just one."

'_How could they ask us something like this?'_ Ino thought frantically. Her legs began to shake and she could barely stand up. She felt as though she was going to have a breakdown. _'M-my legs are shaking so badly. I don't think I've ever been this afraid. I-I can't do this.' _Ino hung her head in shame. There was no way that che could accept this mission. Not when she was so close to, _'Shikamaru...'_

Sakura shook her head. _'Why would Tsunade-sama accept this mission? I can't do this.' _Her green eyes drifted up to land on Sasuke. _'No! I just got Sasuke back! I can't miss my chance again!" _Sakura wouldn't accept this mission either.

Choji glowered at the ground. _'If this was any other assassination mission I would take it. But a suicide mission? I don't think that they have barbecue in heaven.'_

'_I've always wanted an S-Class mission.' _Neji thought excitedly. There was something else in the back of his mind. It was doubt. _'But I made a promise that i would protect Hinata-sama. If i take this mission who will protect her? Or is that an excuse?' _Neji looked down at his hand that had begun to shake. _"My hand is shaking. Could I be scared?' _Yes, for once the Hyuga prodigy was scared to accept a mission.

Naruto was visibly trembling. He never turned down a challenge before but this was a suicide mission. '_I can't believe this!' _The voice in his head raged. _'I've trained hard my entire life to become the best. To become Hokage! And now this comes up! I can't be Hokage if I'm dead! But what kind of Hokage would i be if i turned down a mission?'_ Naruto took a step back and shook his head. He couldn't die until he fulfilled his dream.

'_Choji doesn't look too good. Naruto is shaking and Ino looks like she's on the verge of a breakdown. What a drag. This one is too troublesome.' _Shikamaru wanted nothing more than to save his friends the anxiety. He just couldn't bring himself to accept the mission. After all, he was the first to admit that he was a coward.

'_I have never turned down a mission before. Especially one that was this challenging.' _Shino reflected on his record and decided that this statement was true. _'A good test of my abilities.'_

Tenten fidgeted nervously where she stood. _'I can't believe they would accept this mission knowing that one of us would have to die.'_ Her coffee colored eyes glanced around the clearing and landed on Neji. _'Everyone seems so shaken by the briefing. Even Neji, he looks pale. Almost like he's frightened. Kakashi looks really upset as well. I don't think that he wanted this to happen. The only one that seems completely calm is Sasuke.'_ Tenten turned to look at her leader. He was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, seemingly in his own little world. _'He's so calm. There is no way that he is human.' _What was she going to do.

There was dead silence all around the clearing. Sasuke glanced around at all of his fellow ANBU. Some of them were actually shaking from the anxiety caused by the situation. Even Naruto had finally gone silent. There was a first time for everything. He looked over at his teammates to guage their reactions to the situation. Shino as usual, had no reaction what so ever. Tenten on the other hand was a different story. The young kunoichi turned several shades paler and was shaking like a leaf. Sasuke could sense the apprehension coming off of her in waves.

'_She's scared. They all are. Only Shino seems normal.' _Sasuke tilted his head upward and opened his eyes.

Kakashi looked at each one of his men in turn. _'None of them want to accept this mission. Not that I can blame them. They all have a lot to live for. Looks like I have no choice.' _The white haired ninja cleared his throat but no one seemed to hear him. This time he cleared his throat louder and garnered the attention of everyone. "I don't blame any of you," he stated in barely above a whisper. "I have no choice but to-" Kakashi stopped mid sentence, his eye wide open in shock.

"I accept," said a serene voice.

Tenten and Shino stood rooted to their spots. Shino, who had his hand half way raised slowly lowered it to his side. The brunette simply stared at her leader in shock. She didn't understand how Sasuke could accept this mission! Was he so cold that he even his own death didn't frighten him? Was he putting up a front and making a scrifice for the group. Tenten never showed any open emotion towards her leader before. She hated him for what he had done all of those years ago. Neji and Lee had nearly died because of his betrayal. However, at the moment she couldn't help but feel a certain amount of respect for the dark young man.

"**Sasuke what are you doing?! You can't volunteer for this mission! Are you insane?! This is a suicide mission!"**

"Thank you Naruto. I did not know that," Sasuke said coldly.

"Naruto...shut up." Kakashi walked towards Sasuke keeping his emotions blank. "Sasuke think twice about this. Is this what you really want?" He asked quietly.

Sasuke gave a curt nod. "Besides you and Shino I am the only one that is willing to accept this mission. Everyone else is to scared." His onyx eyes shifted meaningfully from Neji to Naruto.

"Sasuke..."

"Quiet Sakura. If this is what you really want Sasuke then so be it. The mission is yours." Sasuke nodded and Kakashis nodded back. "Okay everyone. Any new business?" Everyone shook their heads numbly. Their eyes still on Sasuke. "Old business? Then you are all dismissed."

Sasuke raked a hand through his long ebony locks and walked away.

"Sasuke." Shino tried to walk up to him but Sasuke just walked right past his. "...What the hell is going on?" Shino wondered aloud.

Shino watched his captain disappear from the clearing, into the night. He couldn't help but wonder why Sasuke accepted the mission. Knowing full well that he probably would never see the other man again. One thing was for sure though. Kazeno Takeshi would not live to see another day.

**End Chapter

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**Well, this chapter was kind of short for one of mine. Also a little boring. But this was just the opening to get the story started. Things will definitely pick up in the next couple of chapters. As for pairings, those will become evident over time. Enough rambling! Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks! Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Sharingan Reborn

**I'm surprised that I've even gotten ****a few**** reviews with the way this story has started out.**** If it sounds like I'm trashing Naruto then I'm sorry. I do like him and he will be a part of my story. I'm just a much bigger Sasuke and Shino fan.**** I'm very pleased. Thank you everyone who read. Here is your reward.**

**Disclaimer: I forgot this last chapter. Naruto does not belong to me. If I did I would be rich and not begging for a new job! Ahem! On with the story.

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**Chapter 2: ****The Sharingan Reborn**

Sasuke sat on the roof of the largest building in the Uchiha compound, staring up at the night sky. The house was the very same one that his parents used to stay in when they were alive. Eve since coming back to the village it had been his place of residence. The place was the same as when he last left it. Empty and lonely. Sasuke loved the night time. It reminded him of a simpler time before the innocence was lost. The cool night air gently caressed his skin creating an odd feeling of nostalgia. For a fleeting moment it seemed as though he were a kid again and he was coming up here to escape his parents. Itachi would come up onto the roof and sit down next to him. They would be up there into the early hours of the morning talking. The two brothers would talk about everything; from girls, to school, and even their dreams for the future. Itachi's dreams were always changig, always shaping into something new. Sasuke's answer was always the same: _"I want to be like you." _Then Itachi would simply laugh and ruffle his hair. Now those days were gone. Dashed to pieces by a pair of haunting eyes the color of blood. That was the day that changed Sasuke's life. The day he would never forget.

"The moon is an intriguing thing isn't it? It can hypnotize you and bring back memories from long ago."

Sasuke's expression didn't change and his eyes never left the moon. "You sound like an old man." There was a brief silence where only the sound of the crickets could be heard. "So what are you doing here."

Kakashi sat down next to Sasuke in the lotus position. Despite the smirk on the other man's face he didn't seem to be in a good mood. "I didn't think that you would be able to sleep with this mission over your head," he explained. "You shouldn't be alone."

"...I'm fine."

Another odd silence popped up between the two men. There was a question nagging at the back of Kakashi's mind. Why? After all of his hard work why just give up now? He was supposed to be the avenger of the Uchiha clan. What about his dream. Did he not care about that anymore? Why?

"Sasuke can you answer a question for me?" The younger shinobi grunted in affirmation. "Why are you doing this?" Kakashi asked quietly. "Why would you accept this mission when you still have so much to live for?"

If the question bothered Sasuke then he didn't show it. "Hn," he answered. "There isn't much for me in this world," he stated bluntly.

"What about your dream? I thought you were planning to make it a reality."

Sasuke remembered word for word what he said to Kakashi when they first met. "I told you that 'dream' is just a word."

"Perhaps, revenge is no longer your dream. Things do change after all."

For the first time since Kakashi arrived Sasuke looked over at him. "I don't know anymore," he answered blankly. "What I do know is that this mission will be a success." Sasuke stood up and jammed his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "I guess I had better be going."

"You don't have to leave just yet. With your speed the complex is only a few hours away. You can wait for awhile."

Sasuke didn't say anything. He took his seat next to Kakashi and glared up at the moonlit forest. The two companions didn't need words. They merely sat there waiting for the sun to rise. They waited for a new day to bring them new promises.

The early morning sun rose over the Uchiha compound bathing it in gentle light. It was still a little dark outside and a fine mist had settled over the village. Sasuke continued around the room carefully selecting his equipment and placing it in his pack. He placed a pair of sunglasses in the duffle bag and zipped it up. His cold black eyes roamed over the room that used to be used as the family room. After all this would be the last time that he ever saw his home again. The youngest Uchiha grabbed the bag off of the couch and left the room in a hurry. He hurried out into the hall and continued out of the front door. Sasuke crossed over the bridge of the small river that ran throught his parents estate. Standing by the front gate of the compound, waiting patiently was Kakashi.

"Are you ready?" Kakashi asked in his monotone.

"As I'll ever be."

"Come on then. Let's go."

Sasuke closed the gate and fell in step with his former sensei. As they walked down the road Sasuke gave a half turn of his head to catch a small glimpse of his old home. The two of them continued down the road that would lead them deeper into Konoha. It was quite some walk to the towns gate and they had plenty of time.

"So how hare you feeling Sasuke?" Kakashi asked idly. Normally he didn't bother with conversation but this situation felt familiar somehow.

Many others would have been nervous but Sasuke appeared as cool as ice. "Pretty good." Sasuke answered vaguely. They continued down their path paying little attention to the crunch of the pebbles beneath his feet. "All I have to do is stay frosty and I'll be fine."

Kakashi smirked. That answer was classic Sasuke. "I like the way that you think. Though I'm not sure that attitude is completely healthy for you."

"When have we ever done something good for our health?"

"Good point." Feeling that he had made enough small talk Kakashi decided to get down to business. "So I trust that you have all of your equipment?" He sounded like a parent reminding his child to take all of his school supplies.

"Feels wierd not being able to pack anything sharp."

"I take that as a yes. Now Sasuke, indulge me if you will. What is your plan here?"

Finally the two shinobi had egun to make their way through the town. There wasn't much going on this early in the morning. Shop owners and vendors were preparing their wares for the new day. It seemed like an ordinary day in the village. Sasuke didn't bother making any eye contact with the people in the street. Over the past couple of years he learned that there was only one thing that he would see in their eyes. Hatred. Even two and half years later the people still only saw him as a traitor. That didn't bother him though. What the people of this village thought of him now affected him no more than it did two years ago.

"After I get in you mean? I just thought that I would make it up as I go."

"You mean wing it? Our old standby." Sasuke's lips actually curled into a small sardonic smirk. It started to get lighter and with it they grew more silent. The only sounds were that of the crickets and a few early risers. "Sasuke I know you..."

"Don't," Sasuke warned dangerously. "You can't change my mind."

"I don't intend to try." Kakashi stopped in his tracks and turned to face Sasuke. Normally he wouldn't bother with conversation but he felt a certain connection with the young Uchiha. "I've known your family for a long time. They were never the quitting type, especially you. This just seems like quitting to me."

The young shinobi closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't see it as quitting Kakashi. Despite what Neji thinks nothing is a finality."

Sasuke turned his back on the copy ninja and continued on towards the town gate. Kakashi sighed and continued after his subordinate. Sometimes Sasuke could be just as stubborn as Naruto. He was impulsive and a loose cannon. The true definition of an Uchiha. Once he had his mind set on something there wasn't any point in even trying to talk him out of it. Of course if Kakashi were being honest he would have to admit that some of that may be his own fault. He and Sasuke were more alike than he had originally thought.

They spent the rest of their walk in complete silence. Neither of them could think of a word to say but perhaps words weren't necessary. They stopped at the large gates of Konoha and stood there. To Sasuke the gates had never looked so forboding. He knew that as soon has he walked out of those gates the mission would begin. Cold onyx eyes met with the single black eye of the ANBU leader.

"By the way I forgot to give this to you." Kakashi grippeda silver chain around his neck and took it off. At the end of the chain was the Uchiha clans symbol. Inscribed on it were the kanji for the word _'sky' _and_ 'fire'_. "This belonged to an ancestor of yours. I've been wearing it quite some time as a good luck charm." His single eye shot down to the pendant and then back to Sasuke. He tossed the chain to Sasuke who caught it in one deft motion.

Sasuke glanced down at the charm. "I don't believe in luck. Didn't think you did either." He tossed the charm back to Kakashi.

"I'm a superstitious guy," he said tossing it back.

"Sasuke didn't say anything but simply placed the chain around his neck. "I guess this it." _'All of that training for nothing.'_

"I don't think that we have to worry." Sasuke didn't question Kakashi. It wasn't his place to question things like that. "You've done quite well. This is your last chance."

"..."

"...Good. It's been an honor to know you Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi stated seriously.

"Likewise." Sasuke and Kakashi shook hands in an emotionless manner. The raven haired man checked his watch. "I have to go." He turned around and began walking to the gates.

"Sasuke!" The young man looked over his shoulder. "A ninja must always see through deception."

With a final wink Kakashi disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Sasuke pondered what Kakashi had meant for a second. He had heard that quote a million times. It always sounded so confusing at the time that it was said; only for it to worl out later. Sasuke watched the gate seemingly open of it's own accord. As soon as he stepped through that gate his mission would begin and his life would end. A slight feeling that everything was about change hit him. It was the same icy feeling that he felt when he went to train with Orochimaru. Yet another familiar feeling hit him. The feeling that he was being watched.

"So is this the farewell committee?" He asked emotionlessly.

"Call it what you want."

Sasuke turned around with a smirk on his face. Shino and Tenten were standing to the side of the open gate. Shino was leaning against the wall with an unreadable expression on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest and if Sasuke had to guess he had his eyes closed. Tenten was standing next to himwith her arms behind her head. The older girl yawned and blinked her tired eyes. Sasuke was just a little surprised to see her here. Even as she looked at him now there was a strong look of apathy in her eyes.

"Surprised to see you here." Sasuke said this as if her weren't surprised at all.

Tenten blinked in surprise. This was one of the few times that Sasuke ever spoke to her directly. She quickly covered the surprise in her eyes and waved her hand airily. "Your my captain. I'm merely doing what is expected of me."

"Hn.Whatever."

"Sasuke there-"

"Don't Shino. If you wish me luck or say goodbye I swear that i'll kill you," he said in a dead serious tone.

Shino's face barely changed behind his collar. "I wasn't going to." The bug nin held his arm out. It was bent at the elbow and his fist was pointing towards the sky. "I'll see you later."

Sasuke raised his own arm and tapped the back of his wrist against Shino's. "Drinks are one me."

Sasuke saluted his two teammates in a very lackadasical manner. Both Shino and Tenten copied his salute. Sometimes it seemed that Sasuke's slight lack of respect wore off on them. Sasuke finally walked out of the gate without looking back at the village. Shino and Tenten watched their leadr walk past the gates in a dignified way. The two ANBU stared that way even after the gates started to close. The moment seemed to last forever until Tenten broke the silence.

"I guess that's it then."

"Hey! Hey you guys!"

Tenten rolled her eyes in annoyance. Naruto and Sakura were running towards them from the direction of the village. Out of all of the Rookie Nine the two of them had changed the least. Sakura was taller and her curves had filled out more. She was very pretty despite her large forehead. She wore a red zip up vest and a pair of tight black shorts under ahort white skirt with pouches. Naruto wore a orange and black sweater that was similar to his old jumpsuit and had the same old blond hair. The two of them looked as though they had run the whole way there.

The former members of Team 7 stopped just in front of them breathing heavily. Sakura glanced around frantically for something or someone. Did-did we m-miss him?" Naruto gasped out.

"Just missed him," Tenten answered.

"Oh no!" Sakura whined. Her emerald eyes filled with sadness. Even after all of those years she hadn't been able to get over her feelings for Sasuke. "I really wanted to say..."

Everyone could see tht the pink haired kunoichi was upset. Naruto began to pat her shoulder in a comforting manner. Don't worry Sakura-chan! I know that he'll be just fine! Believe it!"

Shino sniffed derisively. He pulledthe hood over his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's too early for this," he whispered.

"What does that mean!" Naruto nearly shouted, glaring at Shino.

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that! What the hell do you mean Shino?!" Naruto questioned angrily.

Normally Shino would have ignored Naruto. The only reason for that was that Hinata was usually around. She hated to see her friends get into fights. This time though Shino couldn't hold back what he usually did. "Acting like children. Your seventeen so act like it," he said coldly.

"Shino!" Tenten scolded.

Sakura was stunned into silence for once. She had never heard Shino speak like that before. Naruto on the other hand looked extremely angry. "Hey what's your problem bug boy?!"

"..." Not bothering to clarify his annoyance with the blond Shino turned his back on him. The others just stared after him in surprise.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?!"

"Training."

"Ugh...hey wait up!" The brunette shot an apologetic glance at Sakura before rushing after her teammate.

From atop his place on one of the buildings, Kakashi watched Sasuke leave the village. A ball of ice formed in the pit of stomach as he remembered the time that they lost Sasuke to Orochimaru. Just liked last time he was powerless to stop his comrade. Kakashi ran a hand through his hair before placing it back in his pocket. The wind blew the hair back in his face and he shook his head. Why did he even bother with it? Kakashi was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the footsteps behind him.

"I thought that it was you. What are you doing up here?"

"...Watching the sunrise."

"Liar..."

Kakashi turned around meeting a pair of blazing wine colored eyes. The young woman standing in front of him was dressed rather strangely. It appeared that her entire outfit was made of white bandages that ended around her mid thigh. Under the dress she wore a mesh shirt that covered her right arm with a sleeve while leaving her left bare. Her shins and upper thighs were wrapped in bandages as well as both of her hands. Kakashi gave her a glance while trying to walk past her but she wasn't the type to be ignored.

"Sasuke left already?"

Slightly surprised by the question, he turned to look at her. "What would you happen to know of that, Kurenai?" Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at the kunoichi.

Kurenai smirked. "Asuma told me."

"How did he know?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. She scratched her head in thought. "Perhaps Shikamaru, Ino or Choji told him. You know how close they are."

"And the art of secrecy was failed at academy." Kakashi shrugged and turned his back to her.

"This wasn't your fault Kakashi," Kurenai said suddenly. She never had been any good in situations like this but she thought that it was at least worth a try to say something.

"Maybe not from your point of view," he answered solemnly. Kurenai's eyes widened slightly.Just as she was about to reach out to him his voice cut through her. "We have a meeting to get to." Kakashi jumped off of the roof right in front of her.

Kurenai sighed and shook her head. There was a time when things between them was more than just a hasty greeting and a few words. Sighing she followed after the Copy Ninja.

* * *

Sasuke leapt across tree branches with inhuman speed and accuracy. He was moving so quickly that even the weakest of tree branches could hold him. In a matter of a few minutes Sasuke had put a fair amount of distance between himself and the village. However he still had a quite a bit of a ways to go before he reached the complex. The young shinobi leapt off of the branch; he grabbed another one and swung around it like a gymnast before landing gracefully on top. He sat down on the large branch and leaned against the tree there. There was plenty of time left for him to carry out his assignment so he decided to read over the mission profile. Sasuke opened his bag and pulled out a simple manila folder.

Almost as soon as seeing the mission briefing written down on the paper he could hear Kakashi talking to them. The target was Kazeno Takeshi; a represenative from the Village Hidden of Cloud. Kazeno was one of the the villages represenatives and probably the most influential. However, it would seem as though he was involved in some activities on the side. Although none of the accusations were completely proved nor were they accurately disproved. Some of things he had been accused of included: smuggling, bribery, murder and the slaughter that took place in the Village of Rain. Of course the main reason to assassinate Kazeno was to protect their allies in the Hidden Sand Village.

Sasuke pulled out asecond sheet of paper and let his eyes skim over it. Personal Record. "A wife and two kids huh? Wonder if he even said goodbye to them?" Sasuke shrugged and threw the file back into his bag. Next he pulled out a map of the fire territory. Marks were placed on the map to show the location of Konoha and the complex. "Hm? If I continue at this speed I should reach my destination by noon."

A sudden tingling at the back of his neck caused him to grit his teeth in pain. Sasuke reached back and covered the tattoo like mark on the back of his shoulder. The pain wsan't too bad but it was enough to make him narrow his eyes. _'Strange my seal hasn't acted up for a long time.'_

Sasuke checked his watch and murmered under his breath. He picked his bag up and quickly jumped to the next tree. Had he bothered to look back over his shoulder he would have seen the lone shadow.

* * *

_Thunk!_

A kunai dug into the tree with great force. Like the others thrown before it, it hit dead center in the set up target. Another kunai whistled in the air resulting in yet another bullseye for the kunoichi. Tenten tossed one of the weapons up in the air and expertly caught it. Deep chestnut colored orbs drifted over to her parnter. Since the moment they reached the training grounds all Shino did was sit around. He was currently sitting up against a tree watching a beetle crawl across a blade of grass. There was something about Shino that the girl couldn't understand. She watched a butterfly land on his index finger and suddenly he didnt seem quite as dark as a moment ago.

"You know you are the one that wanted to train." Shino ignored her. Tenten hated to be ignored. "What is your deal? Did I do something to offend you?"

Tenten was a little too loud and startled the butterfly into flying away. "Not at all," Shino answered.

"Then what is it? You were pretty mean to Sakura this morning."

Shino stood up and focused his chakra. The famous kikaichu bugs began crawling out of his sleeves and buzzed around his hands. It looked like black clouds were coming from his arms and out from his collar. Tenten tensed up in apprehension. Was he going to attack her?! With a wave of his arm the bugs left his body and took their refuge in a tree. Tenten unconsiously let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding. Shino pulled a kunai out with his index finger and middle finger. With a quick flick of his wrist he launched the kunai towards the target. The blade hit it's mark dead center.

"I was being realistic," he answered simply. Shino didn't feel like explaining himself and felt he didn't need to. But he enjoyed his peace and was hoping this answer would satisfy her.

Tenten pulled her kunai from the target while keeping her eyes on Shino. "Come on. She's liked him since forever. Let her be hopeful."

"Hn. Hopefulness only causes pain."

"Why are you being so difficult!" Tenten groaned. "Just because that's what you believe doesn't mean that you should be so disrespectful. They are part of the unit after all!"

Shino summoned his kickaichu down from the tree. The bugs swarmed together in the air for a minute before coming together and taking the shape of a human. A second later the shape took form and looked like an exact copy of Shino himself.

"Sasuke is our captain. You have no right to speak of disrespect," he stated calmly.

"Sasuke is traitor," she growled before she could stop herself. "And...and what do you mean by that."

Shino rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. Instead of saying a single word he turned and punched the clone right in the face. The clone didn't have anytime to block the strike. The force of the blow caused it to seperate back into the kikaichu swarm.

"Shadows in the dark can be decieving," he said vaguely.

_'What the hell does that mean?'_

Tenten sighed and shook her head. This was going to be one of the longest days of training she ever had. Training with Shino was much different than training with her old team. Neji was the same as Shino but at least he would sometimes say something to her without her badgering him first. Then there was the enigmatic Lee who never shut up. The perfect combination. Sasuke and Shino never talked to her. Of course she never really tried to talk to them either. Tenten had never really thought that she was the type of person to judge a book by it's cover. Under closer inspection that was what she was doing here. Perhaps there was more to the dark shinobi than she thought.

"Even distracted you still hit the target."

Tenten blinked and looked over at the target. Her kunai was dead center and she never even felt it leave her hand.

* * *

Sasuke touched down in front of his target destination quietly. The complex was made entirely of wood and ppeared much larger than he had expected it to. Against the rest of the forest the small fort almost blended in. There was more to be done than to admire the scenery though.

_'Okay now. There's two guards at the front gate that look like ninja. The insides are probably teeming with them. Not as bad as I expected.'_

Sasuke opened his duffle bag and pulled out some clear plastic bags. He took one last look over the bush that he was behind to make sure that he hadn't been seen. Sasuke quickly stripped out of his clothes and threw them in the bag. He pulled on a pair of black pinstripe pants and fastened them with a black leather belt. He slid on a dark blue silk shirt and buttoned it up. When he was done he tucked his shirt in and opened up the next bag. In the next bag was a suit jacket to match the pants. Finally he came to the last bag that contained a pair of black dress socks and a pair of emaculate black dress shoes. After putting the shoes on he buttoned up his jacket and pulled his hair back into a neat ponytail. The sunglasses that he brought were similar to Shino's and served as a suitable mirror. Upon checking his reflection he placed the glasses over his eyes. Lastly he removed his hitai-ate and threw it in the bag. He wouldn't need it after today.

The young man picked up a black briefcase from his bag and slipped out on to the path. Sasuke dusted himself off so as to appear more presentable. Impersonating a represenative from the Hidden Village of the Rock was the perfect scenario. He strolled along the path trying his best to look like the perfect business man. Upon approching the front gate the two guards walked out to meet him. One of them was a large muscle bound man and the other was a young girl of about average height. The large man held out a hand, signaling him to stop.

"May we help you sir?" he asked in a deep gravelly voice. Sasuke looked up through the glasses at the headband on his head. He was indeed a ninja. "You look a little well dressed to be out here on your own."

Sasuke smirked. "My name is Aizawa Yuuichi. I am the represenative from the Village of the Rock here to conduct business with Kazeno-sama." Sasuke showed him a forged passport from the village.

"And your out here without any bodyguards?"

"I prefer my privacy."

"I see," he said. He tapped the headset he was wearing and began to speak. "Sir the represenative is here. Right, of course. Sir could you hold still for a moment. We still have to perform a security check."

"Of course."

"Sayuri, could yu check him while I examine the briefcase?"

Sasuke handed his briefcase over and the guard began a thorough search. Sayuri began to pat him down, checking for weapons. She was careful to keep her eyes on Sasuke the whole time. When she reached inside of his jacket Sasuke gave her a suggestive smirk. The young guard blushed and jumped away from him.

"He ugh...he's clean!" She replied, walking back to her spot.

The large guard handed him back his briefcase. "Briefcase is clean." The man stared at Sasuke incredulously. "We just need to take care of one more thing."

"Could you roll up your sleeves please?" Sayuri asked. In her hands were two manacle like objects with strange markings on them.

Sasuke obliged and rolled up his sleeves. These must have been the chakra dampeners that Kakashi told them about. "This might hurt," she warned. She placed the the manacles on his hand and clasped them shut one by one. The manacles tightened and he felt something punture his skin. Compared to other things he had felt this was like a mere pinch.

A burning sensation at the back of his mind made Sasuke growl in pain. _'No! Why now?! Of all times!'_

"Aizawa-sama?"

"I'm fine," he assured them.

The man nodded. "Come. Let me take you to Kazeno-sama."

Sasuke nodded and followed the older man inside of the base. The courtyard was simple with several fierce bodygaurds patrolling the area. In the middle of the courtyard were some genin that looked fresh out of the training. They were just children and they were already out here on a mission like this. Sasuke ignored his surroundings and followed his guide to a building at the far end of the courtyard. All of the way down the hall he kept his eyes closed, following the footsteps of the guard. Sasuke could have sworn he was walking forever when it was only a few minutes.

"Here we are sir."

Sasuke blinked and nodded. "Thank you."

As soon as Sasuke walked into the room the door was closed behind him. Immediatley shaded eyes moved to the target behind the desk. Kazeno looked like he did in the picture. Short brown hair with deep emerald eyes hidden behind glasses. He was older than Sasuke but only in his mid thirties. Without turning around Sasuke was able to sense the presence of two more bodygaurds. Kazeno walked around his desk and shook hands with Sasuke.

"A pleasure to meet with you sir. I am Kazeno Takeshi," he said. His voice was silky and ful of false promises.

Sasuke plastered a thin smile on his face and shook his hand firmly. "My pleasure. My name is Aizawa Yuuichi. You may call me Yuuichi." Kazeno motioned for him to sit in the chair in front of his desk. Sasuke nodded and took a seat.

"Ah good. Good. I like your attitude. I hope that you don't mind the food on my desk I missed lunch." Sasuke shook his head and pretended to rifle through his briefcase. "Good. Before we start may I offer you a drink or a cigar?" He asked politely.

"Hn? Scotch if you have it."

Kazeno smiled and walked over to a small cabinet. "Ice?" Sasuke waved his hand politely. Kazeno pulled a bottle from the cabinet and poured the amber liquid into a glass. "You have good taste." He placed the glass down in front of Sasuke and took a seat in his own chair.

Sasuke eyed the glass wearily. He lifted it to his lips and took a sip of the bitter liquid. The scotch burned his throat all of the way down but left a pleasant after taste. The makings of a great scotch.

"This is very good," he admitted.

"All the way from the Country of Lightning. Though not many can drink it straight. I am impressed."

"..."

"But I'm rambling. Let's get down to business. Tell me what your terms are." He picked up his chopsticks and continued to eat his meal.

"Have you ever heard of Gato?" Sasuke asked.

Kazeno swallowed his food and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Of course. He was the governing force in the Land of waves for years. I heard he was killed by Momochi Zabuza."

Sasuke nodded remembering the event very clearly. "You are correct. This is our offer. For your assisstance in the wars against Sunagakure we will help you extend your territory to the Land of Waves. We can pave the way and you can use the area as base of operations." Sasuke had always been a fast thinker and was able to make this up in only a few minutes.

Kazeno's eyes lit up. Just as he thought his plan was working. In the first minute of meeting Kazeno he could tell that the man was greedy. Not just greedy but greedy for power. And those were the type that were easiest to corrupt. Sasuke had first hand knowledge in this area.

"...That sounds intriguing. But what about resistance? Surely there are those that would oppose such a take over."

"We expect resistance from some of the villagers. But there are ways to take care of that."

Kazeno laughed. "Of course. To gain power we will try anything. So what is your plan?"

Sasuke saw this as his only opening to get close to the man. He took off his glasses. He wanted Kazeno to see his eyes before he died. Looking up into Sasuke's eyes made Kazeno shiver. He had never seen eyes that cold and inhuman before. Sasuke finished his scotch and stood up.

"Of course Kazeno-sama. But I'm afraid that I must whisper in your ear. This is a very important matter and not for the ears of bodyguards." Sasuke was sure to keep his voice level so that he didn't seem to eager to get close to him.

Kazeno looked weary of Sasuke and glanced to one of his guards. "He's clean," one said.

"Very well then." He beckoned for Sasuke to come closer.

Sasuke straightened his jacket, walked around to Kazeno's side and bent slightly at the waist. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," he whispered.

Before Kazeno even had the chance to ponder what he meant it was over. The represenative from the Cloud Village began to choke on his own blood. The crimson liquid poured from his throat coating his chopsticks and the hand that held them. In an instant the guards drew their weapons on him.

* * *

"Can you believe it? I never thought that we would ever see a mission like that!"

Shino looked up through shaded lenses at Rock Lee. The young Gai copy shook his head in wonderment. Shino took another sip of his sake and looked back down at the table. Most of the ANBU unit had convened at one of the few bars in Konoha. It was bulit upon the request of the Fifth Hokage Tsunade and had become a regular place for some of the elite ninja unit of Konoha.

Shikamaru nodded. "Missions like this are pretty rare." The lazy nin glared across the table at Tenten. She looked a little lost and her tea appeared to be getting cold. "What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?" Tenten jumped and looked around her table at her fellow ANBU. "Nothings wrong you guys."

"Really?" Ino asked. "Because you've been quiet all day. You haven't even touched your tea," she pointed out.

Tenten sighed. She leaned back against her chair and crossed her arms. "Sasuke was never really my friend. I don't even really care about him one way or the other. But he was a good leader," she said quietly.

Shino glared down at the table. _'He never put us in any danger that he wouldn't put himself in. He is a good leader.'_

"It seems wrong to me to send someone off to their death. Even if it was him." _'Even if it's someone I don't like.' _She thought looking at her tea. "Just doesnt make sense," she finished lamely.

Shino raised a glass to his leader in a silent toast. Seeing what his comrade was doing Shikamaru did the same. Even though he was never close with Sasuke he had a lot of respect for the man. No one deserved to get sent to a certain death by someone else.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed with no definite emotion showing in them. He was standing between the two guards that were in the room. After a small pause the two guards crumpled to the ground with their own swords embedded in their chest. Covered in blood, Sasuke stumbled back and collapsed against the wall. Sasuke couldn't believe what had transpired a second ago. One second he was stabbing Kazeno in the neck and the next he found the two guards to be dead by his hand as well.

_'That doesn't matter now,'_ he thought. _'The __job is done and I am still alive. But why? Isn't this supposed to be a suicide mission. There can't be any ties between the assassination and Konoha. Why didn't I let them kill me?' _Once again Itachi's words ran through his head. _'Is that the reason? Am I still afraid to die? No! That's not it! I'm an avenger! I'm a shinobi! And a shinobi doesn't quit until his mission is complete!'_

"Get up Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up and stood on his feet. Standing against the opposite wall was a figure shrouded in a black hooded cloak. Where his face should have been was nothing but shadows. A new look of determintaion set in on Sasuke's face. He would get out of here alive even if that meant everyone dying. Still keeping his eye on the figure he bent down and gripped the handle of a katana that was still sticking in one of the guards. He yanked the blade out and gave it a twirl with his fingers.

"I don't know who you are but stand in my way and your dead," he said icily. A slightly cocky look found it's way into his eyes but his facial expression didn't change.

"I am not an enemy Sasuke."

"How do you know my name?"

"..."

Instead of an answer he tossed a wrapped bundle at Sasuke's feet. Sasuke cautiously bent down to unwrap the bundle to reveal his ANBU katana and the chokuto given to him by Orochimaru. A shock at the back of the neck followed by a sever jolt of pain dropped him to his knees. Sasuke gripped both of the swords in his shaky hands almost subconciously.

"That's it Sasuke. Take up your blades and become who you were meant to be." The figure faded into a black vortex of black chakra.

Sasuke pulled himself up to his full height and held his swords at his side. His cursed seal began to spread slowly and recede in turn. Despite his chakra restraints the sharingan whirled and blazed.

* * *

"Tenten-chan you don't have to walk me home."

"Nonsense Shizune. It's boring to walk by yourself."

Tenten and Shizune walked down the stone street together. For normal people walking down a dark street near an even darker forest was a stupid idea. For shinobi it was no problem. It had become common occurrence for her and Shizune to walk home together at night. Over the past few years the two of them had become quite close. The two of them were almost like sisters.

"Tenten-chan is something bothering you?" Shizune asked tentatively. "I heard about the ANBU mission."

"Shizune, you aren't supposed to know about that!" Tenten said in astonishment.

"Oh I have my ways," the older woman smirked. "Besides don't you think questions will arise when he goes missing."

"We have that covered. Besides It's not like anyone will miss him," she said coldly.

"Are you still holding a grudge after all of this time?"

Tenten didn't respond to Shizune's last statement. It was obvious that she still held a grudge against the young Uchiha. How could she not? Shizune wordlessly followed her friend. Even if Tenten hated someone she would help them if they needed it. That was just the kind of person that she was. That's why it was so hard for Shizune to here the brunette talk like that. Then again she had never hated anyone quite as much as she did Uchiha Sasuke. Shizune expected that it had something to do with her feelings for Hyuga Neji and the non-existant competition between the two young men. It seemed that when dealing with Neji she would lose some of her will. It was a shame because she really needed someone in her life.

"Stop!" Tenten's hand shot out and rested on Shizune's shoulder. "I heard something."

Shizune glanced around but coudn't see anything. "I can't see anything," she whispered back.

A rustling in the bushes caught their attention. Tenten drew several kunai and shuriken. Shizune followed suit and jumped to her friends side. They waited several seconds for a movement. Another rustling made them tense.

"Come out!" Tenten commanded. "Come out or we will attack."

There was another rustling before a figure appeared. Shadows concealed the person's identity. His clothes were torn all over and he appeared to be drenched in a thick crimson sheen. Long dark hair was matted to his face by the substance. He walked with a limp out of the bushes revealing a shoulder and abdomen that appeared to be torn wide open. In his hands were two swords that he had a firm hold on. The two kunoichi were surprised that he was able to carry his swords let alone walk! Shizune placed her weapons back in their pouches and ran forward.

"Shizune!"

The medic held out her hand to silence Tenten. "Sir what happened to you? Are you okay?"

"Wh-where (huff) am... I?" He choked out.

"You are in Konoha village."

"Good," he gasped. "Now...I can rest..." That was all he said before falling forward.

Both Shizune and Tenten rushed forward to catch the man. As soon as their arms wrapped around him they could feel the blood soaking into their shirts. The amount on him was incredible. Together they laid him down on the ground and rested him n his back. Black hair matted with blood blocked the man's face from view. Shizune checked for his pulse and found it to be weakening. He must have lost a lot of blood and chakra to end up in this state. Tenten reached up and peeled the bangs away from his face. She gasped in shock and pulled back.

"Shizune!"

Shizune looked at the person's face and her eyes widened in shock. "Tenten go get help!" Tenten stood there staring at the bloody face in disbelief. "Tenten go!" Shizune shouted.

Tenten shook her head and bolted off towards the hospital. Shizune focused chakra into her hands and placed them over the wounds. "Sasuke can you hear me?! Hang in there! We're going to help!"

**End Chapter

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**

**Well there it is! Sorry, it took a little longer than I expected! I hope that you all enjoyed. Give me a review and let me know. If you want to know more about the mysterious figure and Sasuke's escape you'll have to wait! Mwhahahahahaha!**

**I forgot my translation notes for the last chapter:**

**Karasu-Raven**

**Ookami-Wolf**

**Kitsune-Fox**

**Tora-Tiger**

**A chokuto is a sword. It's the one that Sasuke recieved from Orochimaru.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Day after?

**I'm quite proud of this story so I'm happy that people are enjoying it. Thank you everyone for reading! ****Mana, you may have to wait another chapter to get your question answered. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. My lawyers have advised me not to say otherwise.

* * *

**

**Chapter 3: The Day After?**

"Nnngh! Where am I?"

Dark onyx colored eyes opened to a world of pure shadows. Sasuke blinked and pulled himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed the back of his head wondering about the bull that kicked him in the head. The world around him was shrouded in shadows but he was just able to make everything out. He was inside of the Uchiha compound right near the front gate. Sasuke looked down at himself and realized that he was no longer dressed in his normal clothes. Instead he was wearing one of the gowns that were given to the patients at the hospital. A jolt of pain in his head made him flinch and turn slightly to the side. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something disappear around one of the corners. It appeared to be a person. The odd thing was that the person was glowing a bluish white color that looked positively eerie. Throwing all caution to the wind, Sasuke followed the person.

Sasuke chased after the figure. His legs felt heavy as though he were dragging invisible weights behind him. After what seemed like an eternity he turned the corner of the building that the person disappeared behind. There it was, the same ghostly figure he had seen a moment. Suddenly all of the air around Sasuke grew ice cold and he could see his breath on the air. The spirit, as Sasuke saw it, walked in a very peculiar pattern. It's body and limbs spasmed as if it were having some kind of seizure. Every couple of spots the figure would jump and suddenly reappear in another spot. Sasuke felt a cold trickle run down his spine when he saw the figure turn around. He recognized the medium length spikey hair. However, the blank look on his face was nothing like Sasuke had remembered.

"Shi-Shisui?" He asked gently. Sasuke found himself staring back into the blank face of Uchiha Shisui. Shisui stared back at Sasuke for a second before turning his back on him. "Wait," Sasuke demanded softly.

Shisui didn't say anything to Sasuke nor did he make an attempt to show that he even heard him. Instead he raised his right arm and pointed down the street on their right. For a second all Sasuke could do was stare at the finger that pointed down the street. Sasuke didn't ask what Shisui's spirit wanted. That much was obvious. He walked up so that he was just a few feet away from his older cousin. Sasuke glanced over at the ghost who still had it's hand raised and pointing. Sasuke nodded and walked down the street that Shisui pointed to. As soon as he took more than five steps he felt a searing pain in the back of his neck. Sasuke dropped down to his knees and gripped his head with both of his hands. His cursed seal began to pulsate and burn the back of his neck. Sasuke turned around to look at Shisui again but he was gone.

"This can't be real," Sasuke muttered. He gritted his teeth against the pain and pulled himself to his feet. His eyes widened slightly at the sight before him. "What?"

The street that had just been empty a moment ago was now filled with people. All of them spirits just like Shisui had been. Sasuke walked down the road picking out the members of his clan that he hadn't seen in ages. Everyone was there. From his aunt, uncle, and cousins all the way down to those that had married into the family. They all walked slowly and without a purpose. Sasuke walked among them but he seemed to be invisible to them. Unlike Shisui they ignored him. Either they would walk by or in the most chilling occasion walk right through him. Feeling the need to be recognized he ran up to where his aunt and uncle stood. He called out to them in vain. Neither of them gave the slightest inclination that they saw him. Just as he was about to give up something unexpected happened.

The world around him including the buildings, trees and power lines all turned white like an x-ray. His family stopped moving and it was like time had stopped. There was a sudden flash as something passed by him with inhuman speed. Suddenly he watched as one of his clansman's chest sliced up and sprayed the ground with white blood. Then it happened again and again. All around him his family fell to the ground dying all over again. Concentrating as hard as he could Sasuke focused his chakra. His sharingan blazed to life; his last chance at seeing what was causing all of this. He caught a glimpse of the figure dashing behind him and turned around. His eyes were just quick enough to pick up the flash of ANBU armor as his aunt and uncle were mercilessy cut down. Sasuke turned around and looked up to the sky. A lone figure dressed in the ANBU guard stood atop one of the transformers. A cold trickle ran down Sasuke's spine as his worst memory replayed itself.

"No," he whispered. Sasuke shook his head. "Not again," he said breathlessly. "I won't let this happen again."

Sasuke launched himself forward and ran as fast as he could towards his house. The fear that had plagued him nine years ago was buried but not entirely forgotten. Finally his house came into view. Sasuke pushed himself forward bursting through the front door at top speed. He ran around to the outside and hurried towards his parent's room. Upon reaching his destination he froze. His hand rested on the handle of the door. Just like the first time he felt like ice water rushed through his veins. He gave the door a sharp pull and walked into the dark room. His parents stood at the other end shrouded in shadows.

"Mother! Father!"

Sasuke tried to run to them but he found himself to be running in place. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't make it through the door. Realizing that it was hopeless Sasuke stopped running. As soon as he did that's when it happened. Blood sprayed from their bodies and they slumped to the ground. Sasuke tried to look away but he found his gaze hopelessly stuck on them. His body started to shake slightly and it only shook more when he heard footsteps. A tall figure dressed in ANBU gear appeared from the shadows. Long ebony colored hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. In the persons hand was an ANBU sword that dripped rubies.

Slowly the person reached up and gripped the edges of his mask. Sasuke tensed up ready to attack the person. Slowly the mask was pulled away to reveal a young face that was all to familiar to Sasuke. Instead of looking upon the face of his brother, Sasuke found himself staring back at him. All of the color drained from his face and he felt colder than he ever had in his life. Sasuke shook his head frantically not willing to believe what he saw.

Suddenly Itachi appeared at Sasuke's side. His face held no ill intent or any emotion at all for that matter. "I trust that I am still your ultimate goal Sasuke?" Sasuke stared straight ahead never taking his eyes off of himself. In the next instant Itachi was next to him whispering in his ear. "Am I the one that's truly to blame for the deaths of our family?" He asked in a whisper.

"Poor little Sasuke," said a silky snake like voice. Sasuke turned around coming face to face with Orochimaru. "You seem so confused. Why not let me help you?" He offered a pale hand to his former protege.

Sasuke shook his head. Some of his old resolve returned in a furious fashion. "I'll never join you again! I don't need your help!" The curse mark started to spread over his body.

"Really? You may not want to see it Sasuke."

Itachi reappeared beside Orochimaru. "We are your past present and future!"

"NO!"

He turned around and ran from the room out into the garden. All of sudden he found himself surrounded by the angry spirits of his clan. They were all wailing in inhuman pain and pointing accusatory fingers at him. Sasuke turned around in a frantic manner while trying to keep his emotions under control.

"No! Thi-this wasn't my fault!"

Still the spirits swarmed around him drawing ever closer. Soon they were upon him tearing away at him with transparant hands. They tried to grab him and pull him to the ground. Just when it all seemed over a bright light shone and forced the spirirts back. Out of the light apppeared a very beautiful woman. Long black hair draped over her shoulders and black eyes matching Sasuke's stared out from her pretty face. Next to her was a handsome man with matching hair and eyes. The man reached a hand out to Sasuke and all he could do was stare.

"Father? Mother?" He asked in wonderment.

"Sasuke." Fugaku acknowledged in his deep voice. "You have to get up Sasuke."

"You are dreaming sweetie," Mikoto replied. "It's time for you to wake up."

"But I..." Sasuke took his father's hand and was helped to his feet.

"I'm sorry Sasuke," his mother said. "We have to go now."

"No! Mother, father wait."

"Wake up sweetie."

"No."

"Wake...up..."

Sasuke's eyes shot wide open the crimson red of the sharingan shone brightly in the white room. He shot up from his prone position and grabbed at the right side of his bed. His instincts served him right as his hands closed on flesh and cloth. Sasuke spun around so that he was behind the person that he had grabbed. Despite having his sharingan activated his vision was still blurry. The person that he had grabbed onto was breathing heavily and shaking. Obviously whoever it was was scared of the current situation. A feminine whimper escaped the person's mouth identifying it as female. Currently Sasuke had his hand around her throat so that she couldn't scream.

"Where am I?" He asked in a dangerously low tone. His vision was starting to clear and he could see the brunetter hair of the woman that he grabbed. "Where am I?"

"Sasuke let her go!" A strong voice called from the doorway.

Luckily for the woman Sasuke remained calm enough to recognize the voice that called out to him. "Kakashi?" He aske suspiciously. "Is that you?"

"Sasuke, you are safe. Trust me and let go of the nice lady."

The young Uchiha slowly loosened his grip on the woman. She quickly scrambled to her feet and bolted out of the room. Sasuke's vision finally cleared completely and his sharingan receded. He took a quick look at kakashi and sat on the edge of the bed. "Kakashi, where am I?"

Kakashi shut the door and leaned against it. "You're in Konoha Hospital." He said in a matter of fact tone.

"How...did I get here?"

Kakashi's visible eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "Do you remember anything?"

Sasuke shook his head. "The last thing I remember," he monotoned, "was killing Kazeno." He ran a hand through his hair. "When I woke up the complex was on fire and my swords were in my hands. Everyone was dead."

"Is that it?" Sasuke nodded in affirmation. "So the mission was a success?"

"Except I didn't die." There was a small silence before Sasuke spoke again. "So how did I get here?"

"Hm?" Kakashi appeared lost in thought for a second before shaking his head. "You were found at the edge of Sector 4. You were lucky. If Tenten and Shizune hadn't found you, you could be dead."

Sasuke looked up from the white tile floor and turned to look at Kakashi. His face looked as icy as ever. There wasn't even a hint of elation at the news that he had been saved. "I guess that I owe them?"

"You should say thank you." Kakashi answered with a hidden smile. "Is there anything else I should know."

Sasuke toyed with the idea of telling Kakashi about his seal acting up. He would find out sooner or later. Might as well be sooner. "My seal has been acting up."

"...For how long?"

"Since yesterday."

"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that you've been unconcious for the past two days." Before Sasuke could comment on this Kakashi continued. "It's probably no big deal. Come on and get dressed. I'll go and sign you out."

Kakashi disappeared from out of the door and closed it behind him. Sasuke looked over to the night stand and saw his things waiting for him including his trench coat and his weapons. Sasuke slipped on his black pants and pulled the white shirt over his chest. The shirt revealed a fair amount of his chest and abdomen. Both of which were heavily bandaged as well as his left shoulder. Sasuke pulled his trench coat on and reveled in the weight of the leather. The symbol of the Uchiha clan stood proudly on the back of the coat. He caught sight of his reflectin in the window and saw that Kakashi's pendeant still hung from his neck. He shook his head and picked up his weapons. The blades had both been cleansed of blood and gleamed in the sunlight shining through the window. He strapped the chokuto to his lower back and strapped the ANBU katana so that it hung diagonally across his upper back.

Sasuke walked out of the room and down the hall. He had ended up in the hospital enough to know where he was going without paying attention to his surroundings. He made it to the front desk where Kakashi was in the process of filling out his release papers. A particularly stbborn head nurse confronted him and shoved a bottle of antibiotics and painkillers into his hand. She didn't take no for an answer. Sasuke shoved the bottles in his pockets and followed Kakashi out of the hospital. The bright midday sun assaulted Sasuke's tired eyes. He brushed thick locks of hair from his eyes and tucked them behind his ear. Kakashi turned to him and smiled.

"I have to go and report to the Hokage," he informed him. "Why don't you go and et somethign eat? It should help." Kakashi turned around and started off towards the Hokage's office.

"Kakashi."

The Copy Ninja turned around and shot his hand out on reflex. When he opened it he saw the charm he had given Sasuke before the mission. Kakashi looked up and saw Sasuke already walking down the street. He smiled knowing that it was almost physically impossible to get the younger man to say thank you.

Sasuke walked down the streets of Konoha alone. All around him were people going about their day as if it were business as usual. And for them it was. Taking closer thought on the subject Sasuke supposed that it was normal for him as well. After all narrowly escaping death was nothing new for him. Some people glanced at him when he walked by. Others ignored him out of dislike or intimidation. Sasuke never was sure which one it was and didn't care to find out. His mind was somewhere more important right now. For example his dream.

_'That wasn't a dream,' _he thought. Sasuke closed his eyes and put his hands in the pockets of his coat. _'That was a nightmare. I thought that I was through with them.' _Were the spirits that he saw in his dream right? Was it really his fault that his family had been murdered? Maybe if he had been stronger he could have done something to prevent it. His mind set on Itachi automatically. He could see his brother's face and hear his voice. Even now after all of his training he was still no closer to restoring his clan. Itachi was forever out of his reach. Briefly he wondered what it would have been like if Itachi had killed him. He could be with the rest of his family right now instead of waiting to join them. If Sasuke had died all those years ago he doubted that it would change anything now.

"Hey! Hey Sasuke!" Sasuke looked up and saw Sakura and Naruto running towards him. Instantly his icy mask was back in place. "He's okay!" The loud mouthed ninja wrapped his arms around Sasuke in an iron grip. "How did you do it?! Huh?!"

Sasuke groaned in pain. The hug was wrapping his body with even more pain. "Let...go of me...idiot."

"Stop it Naruto! Your hurting him!" Sakura hit Naruto hard on the top of the head, knocking him to the ground. She turned back to Sasuke with an overly sweet smile on her face. "Sasuke, are you sure that you should be up?" she asked in concern.

"I was cleared..." Sasuke stepped over Naruto and continued walking.

Sakura did the same and followed after him. "Oh! They were supposed to let me know!" Sasuke gave no indication that he heard her. "Is there anything that you need? Would you like something to eat?"

Before he could respond Naruto appeared in between the two of them. He wrapped his arms around them and cried out, "Yeah! Ramen here we come!"

**Moments Later**

Team 7 sat at Ichiraku's Ramen with bowls of ramen in front of them. Sasuke sat in the middle with Naruto on his right and Sakura on his left. Naruto was practically slurping his ramen down; he was on his third bowl. Sakura ate in her usual refined manner. Sasuke's ramen sat in front of him untouched. His mind was in a far off place.

_'Sasuke you baka. The whole idea of a suicide mission is that you don't come back. Did I kill them all? I can't even remember.' _He reached back over his shoulder and thumbed his curse mark. _'When I woke up they were all dead. Kazeno, his guards, even those Genin. Was it me...'_

The curse seal pulsated for a second and Sasuke had to bury the urge to release it. Over the past five years Sasuke had gained magnificent control over the mark. He could activate it at will and make it recede at will as well. Of course that didn't mean that it no longer caused him pain sometimes. He had just grown more used to it. No longer was Orochimaru able to control him through the seal. He was able to take some satisfaction in the fact that that had to be pissing him off at least a little. From the somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a voice call his name.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke jumped and found a pair of concerned emerald eyes staring at him. "Are you alright."

"Yeah. You've been acting wierder than usual lately." Naruto said around a mouthful of ramen.

"...Fine," he answered darkly.

"Really?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm fine," he reiterated. Sakura and Naruto shared a glance. Sasuke pulled a bottle of pills out of his jacket pocket and popped one in to his mouth. "But I do need something."

"Sure what's up?!" Naruto asked, excited to be able to help.

"I need to find that kunoichi on my team. You know Tenten. You know where she is?" he asked getting to the point.

"Tenten-chan? What do you want her for?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

Sasuke glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. That was one of the reasons he hated them. They acted like everyone elses life was their business. "Last I recall I don't need to explain myself to you."

Sakura blanched and turned her gaze towards the table. "S-sorry."

Sasuke leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "So have you seen her?

"No...sorry Sasuke."

"Sorry. Haven't seen her since the last AN-er-the last book club meeting. Sasuke glared at Naruto and mouthed the word 'baka.' "Hey maybe Lee has seen her!"

Sasuke and Sakura turned around to look where Naruto was pointing. Rock Lee was walking down the street in his usual green jumpsuit paying little attention to his surroundings. "Lee-kun!" Sakura called.

The bushy eyebrowed boy jumped at the sound of his name being called. Upon seeing Sakura his face suddenly split into a wide grin. With amazing speed he rushed up to the trio. Lee struck up a goofy pose and smiled at them. "Naruto, Sakura, how are you?!" He asked shaking their hands. Lee looked over at Sasuke and immediately jumped into an overexaggerated salute. "Captain! Welcome back!"

Sasuke shook his head. Personally he had nothing against Lee and he respected the taijutsu skills of the other man. Every once in a while Lee's over abundance of energy could be annoying. "Relax. We aren't on duty so don't salute me."

"Right!" Lee lowered his hand. "Just a force of habit. So what are you guys up to."

"Nothing we were just-"

"Have you seen Tenten?" Sasuke asked, cutting Naruto off. The blond glared at him in annoyance. "I need to speak with her."

Lee nodded enthusiastically. "I have to meet with her and Neji at the tea house in a few minutes. Why don't you join us?!"

Sasuke gave him a curt nod. "I only need to see her for a second." He placed some money on the table and walked away with Lee.

Sakura sighed and Naruto gave her a small smile. "Don't worry Sakura. We'll get him back!" Naruto declared. Though at this point in time he wasn't sure if it was possible or not.

* * *

The walk to the tea house was short, uneventful, and spent mostly in silence. Tea houses were very popular in the village because they provided the citizens with a great place to relax. The inside of the tea house was dimly lit and filled with the aroma of various teas. Sasuke and Lee chose a table near the back of the somewhat crowded place. Sasuke vaguely listened while Lee droned on and on about something. His eyes were feeling heavy as well as every limb on his body. What he needed was a good meal and some sleep. His natural healing abilities were split several ways and weren't working as well as normal. 

"So how are you taijutsu skills coming along?"

Sasuke shook his head and turned to Lee. This was a subject that he had some interest in. "Good. I doubt I'm at your level."

A waitress walked up to the table and gave them a great smile. "Can I get you gentlemen something."

"Just some herbal tea please," Lee requested politely.

"And a bottle of sake," Sasuke added in. He was currently massaging his cursed mark.

"Alright. A pot of tea and a bottle of sake. Will that be all?"

The two Jonin nodded. The waitress thanked them and walked off to ready their order. Lee ignored the others around them and focused on Sasuke. Something was bothering him.

Lee lifted his hand up do that the other people in the shop couldn't see his lips moving. "Are you okay Sasuke?" Sasuk ignored him and continued to stare at the surface of the table. "Is it your cursed mark?"

Sasuke was very annoyed with the fact that his curse mark had become common knowledge among most of the ninja in the village. "Nothing I can't handle," he replied.

It wasn't longe before the waitress came back with a tray of tea, sake and two cups. She quickly placed everything down on the table and smiled at them. "Will that be all?" Lee thanked her and Sasuke merely nodded.

"Are you sure that nothing's wrong Sasuke?"

"Drop it Lee," Sasuke replied venomously.

Sasuke poured some sake in one of the cups and mixed in the tea. **(A.N: My friend Kyo did this once. I can drink both straight but I think they taste disgusting together.) **A deep silence followed the two young men. It was slowly killing the energetic Lee.

"So what do you want Tenten for?"

"Actually it's personal."

"AH! Did something romantic happen between the two of you?" If Sasuke were any other person he would have choked on his drink in shock. "I can see it now! Two ANBU, so young, in the midst of danger fall in love! It's so beautiful!" He exclaimed, tears falling from his face.

"Stop cring," Sasuke ordered. "And don't even think of hugging me."

"I'm not."

"You got that look."

"Lee!" Tenten and Neji were walking towards their table. Tenten was surprised to see Sasuke sitting with him. "Sasuke-senpai your here to?" She saluted him and Lee did the same for Neji.

Sasuke shook his head. "Stop saluting me."

"Why are you here anyways?" Negi asked, narrowing his silver eyes at Sasuke.

The tiniest gleam of amusement entered Sasuke's eyes. Mostly though they were filled with hatred towards the Hyuga. "The proper way to ask someone a question is to first adress them properly."

Neji bristled with anger that wasn't as well contained as he would like it to be. Sensing his irritation Tenten jumped in before something bad could happen. "Are you here on business senpai?" Despite not caring for Sasuke Tenten believed in politeness and professionalism.

"Sort of. I need to speak with you. Privately."

"Yes! Finally!" Lee cried stupidly.

Tenten regarded her friend curiously and Sasuke turned his back on them. He walked over to an empty corner of the room, waiting for Tenten to follow him. "Tenten I wouldn't if I were you. I don't trust him."

Tenten smiled at the concern that Neji rarely showed. "I know. Don't worry Neji I can handle myself."

Tenten turned around and walked towards Sasuke nervously. She didn't feel comfortable when she was around him in a group of people. Being alone with him was definitley not something that she wanted to do. Still she refused to be intimidated by him. She walked up to Sasuke and waited for him to start. Cold onyx eyes turned on to her shattering the rest of her confidence.

"Listen carefully. I am only going to say this once." He ran a hand through his hair. Tenten expected him to be angry and waited for the harsh words that were sure to follow. "Thank you."

Tenten's eyes widened and her head shot up. She stared at Sasuke for a second before she founde her words again. ""For what?" She asked breathlessly.

"Kakashi told me you helped me out the other night. I owe you."

Tenten sighed in relief and smiled. "It's no big deal."

"No. I hate being in debt."

"It's not like I'm holding you to it."

Sasuke glanced at her. "I'm not doing this for you." Out of the corner of his eye he saw neji and Lee staring at them. "Better get you back to bushy brow and your boyfriend."

Tenten seemed confused for a second, then a light blush covered her face. "Neji isn't my boyfriend!"

Sasuke turned around with a flourish of his coat. "Why act like it then?" Tenten blinked and followed Sasuke back to the table. "This cover's my half Lee." He held out his hand and offered him some money.

Lee waved his hand and shook his head. "This one is my treat."

"Um, you, ugh, aren't going to join us?" Tenten asked politely surprising Neji and even Sasuke a little bit.

"I have the feeling the Hokage will want to see me."

Tenten watched him go, his trench coat billlowing out behind him as though hit by a strong wind. "So what was that about?" Neji asked. His eyes focused on his cup of sake.

"...Nothing," Tenten replied quietly.

The kunoichi sat down in a chair between Neji and Lee. She crossed her legs and furrowed her brow in thought. Sasuke thanked her and told her that he owed her for saving his life. Even after saying that he didn't owe her he insisted. Was that his ninja way? Her conversation with Shino the day of they saw Sasuke off replayed itself in her mind. Maybe her two teammates weren't all that she thought them to be.

* * *

"Are you sure that he'll show if you ask him?" Tsunade looked up from her desk at Kakashi. "He's not as hard headed as Naruto but he's one of Orochimaru's. He may not show." 

Kakashi shook his head at the Hokage. "He was one of Orochimaru's," he corrected. He calmly leaned against the hokage's desk turning to the other person in the room. "Wheteher Sasuke admits it or not I believe that he still cares about this village. Now that he's regained some credibility he won't risk it."

The third peron in the room, Toad Sage Jiraiya, nodded in agreement. "Far be it for me defend a former student of Orochimaru's but I agree with Kakashi. He woudn't want to be put back on probation."

"Probation?" The tohers turned around and looked at the door. Sasuke was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. They didn't even sense him come in. "You wouldn't be talking about me would you?"

The door to the office burst open and Shizune ran in. "Tsunade-sama, Sasuke is on his way here right now!"

"Shizune." Tsunade pointed a finger at Sasuke.

Shizune turned around to look at Sasuke and he nodded his head to confirm her existence. The young aide glowered and walked over to Tsunade's desk, ready to take notes.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon. Please sit down."

"I prefer to stand. And I you would want to see me sooner or later."

"Perceptive."

"As you may have guessed Sasuke, the Hokage would like a report on your mission."

"Please tell," Jiraiya said curiously. "I'd like to know how you pulled this off as well."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Kazeno let his guard down and I killed him. I blacked out afterwards."

"Don't get me wrong Sasuke, I am glad to see that you returned safely. But how did you survive?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm not sure." A twinge of pain hit his abdomen but he made no open display of noticing. "When I woke up the complex was on fire and I was covered in blood." He ran a hand through his hair. "I killed everyone there."

Shizune was shocked at the calm tone of voice that he used to inform them with. "E-everyone? You know that there were chil-"

"That isn't important right now!" Kakashi cut in sharply.

Tsunade glanced from Sasuke and back to Kakashi. Did Sasuke even know about the Genin in the complex? "I suppose that is true," she said finally. "The most important thing is that they can't connect the assassination to Konoha. You did well Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded at her. "Well that's over," Kakashi said. He pulled a book from his pocket and started to read. "Perhaps we should have a look at your seal?"

"What about your seal?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nothing," Sasuke answered. " If it's all the same to you I'd like to get some sleep," he said, adressing Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded and said, "Of course."

Sasuke nodded. "Shizune?"

"Yes?" She asked, jumping slightly.

"...Thank you." There was a swish of his coat followed by a puff of smoke and he disappeared from the room.

"Your welcome," Shizune whispered.

Even Kakashi was surprised to hear Sasuke thank Shizune. Tsunade leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Do you think that he's right in his assumption? Do you really think he took care of everyone Kakashi?" Her almond colored eyes turned to Kakashi ina questioning way.

"If I know Sasuke then yes." Kakashi answered in a sure tone.

"Just to be on the safe side we should send a team of Jonin to make sure," Jiraiya suggested.

* * *

Sasuke leapt through the open window of his bedroom and looked around. A couple of days ago he had never expected to see this place again. He pulled his swords off one by one and held them in his hands. Almost reverently he placed them on a dresser by the window of the room. Sasuke's room as well as the rest of the house had been remodeled when he came back. There was a heavy snake motif throughout the inside of the house. Most people would have found it creepy but they didn't understand. After training with Orochimaru for all of those years the snakes made him feel more at ease. 

Sasuke took his coat off and laid it across a chair that was in the room. He walked over to the large closet and pulled out a dark blue towel. He walked out of the room and down the hall that was still so dark despite the shining sun outside. He walked into the bathroom and didn't bother shutting the door behind him. Ther wasn't mush of a need when he lived alone. Anyone that dare to come into his house would have to have been out of their mind. He pulled his shirt off carefully so that he didn't agitate his wounds. Next he pulled the bandages off of his abdomen to check the damage done. It wasn't to severe and if he got enough rest they would be healed in no time. He unwrapped his shoulder and ran his thumb along the ANBU tattoo on his upper arm. Sighing he undressed the rest of the way and turned the water in the shower on full blast.

Sasuke stepped into the shower relishing the feel of the hot water against his tired muscles. He grabbed the soap and cleaned his body. His skin was still a little tender from his injuries so he washed over them carefully. The amount of scars that he had recieved from years of fighting wasn't huge but he definitley had his fair share. After washing and conditioning his hair he spent at least another hour in the shower. When he finally did step out from under the water he realized steam had taken over the bathroom. He walked over to the mirror and swiped his hand across the glass. For the smallest moment he could have sworn that instead of his own face he saw someone elses face. He squeezed his eyes shut and looked in the mirror again. Only to find himself staring back at him.

"What is wrong with me?" He questioned in a tone barely above a whisper.

Pushing those thoughts to the side Sasuke ran a hand through his hair to get it under control. He pulled it back into a ponytail before spraying himself with some deoderant. Then he brushed his teeth and walked out of the bathroom. Sasuke walked back to his bedroom slowly. His head ached dully and his muscles screamed in protest with every step that he took. As soon as he walked into his room he pulled the towel off and hung it to dry on a rail on the back of the door. He pulled on a pair of boxers and climbed into bed. He didn't even care that his skin and hair were still slightly damp from his shower. Sasuke grabbed the satin sheets at the end of his bed and ppulled them over his body. He laid back on his pillow and closed his eyes preparing for what would be another restless sleep.

**End Chapter

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**That's the end o****f another chapter. I know that T****enten hasn't been in the story too much but that will all change in the next chapter.**** Some of the other major players in my story should become evident as well.**** Will the team of Jonin that Tsunade sends be able to uncover how Sasuke completed his mission? ****Send me your reviews and let me know what you think. Peace!**


	4. Chapter 4: An ANBU'S Pride

**I'm sick! My word program is deciding to mess with me! And my roommate stole my Jelly Bellys! So let's get on with it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wish Shonen's lawyers would quit coming after me.

* * *

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**Chapter 4: An ANBU's Pride**

It was only a loud banging on the front door that woke Sasuke from his sleep. He had slept the entire day and it was eight o'clock the next day. He entertained the thought of going back to sleep for a brief moment. However, someone was banging on his door non-stop and they had to pay. He threw on a pair of black pants with pouches that contained various ninja tools in them. He slipped on one of his black high collar short sleeved shirts with his clan's symbol on the back. As he walked down the stairs he began to mutter about dead people that wouldn't stop knocking on his front door. Expecting it to be Naruto or Sakura he took a deep breath so as not to kill them right away. Taking one last breath he flung the door open to reveal a very bored looking Shikamaru. In addition to his usual annoyed expression Shikamru looked a little uneasy with his current surroundings. Both shinobi stared at one another, neither of them really knowing what to say.

_'What are you doing here is a good start.' _Sasuke's mind chided.

The lazy ninja sighed and shook his head. "Man how troublesome," Shikamaru finally said. "Ino wouldn't stop nagging me about checking up on you." The only sign of annoyance from Sasuke was for his eyes to close completely. "Heh, tell me about it. Sorry, to bother you." Shikamru turned around and waved his hand over his shoulder.

"...Don't bother." Sasuke wasn't too angry anymore; he understood the pain that came with dealing with people like Ino and Sakura. He watched Shikamaru walk away when a thought popped into his head. "Shikamaru?" Shikamaru stopped and turned around. "Have you seen Shino?"

Shikamaru scratched his head in thought. "I think that he went to go and train with Hinata and Kiba."

"I owe him a drink. You want in?" Besides Shino and Kakashi, Shikamaru was the only other member of the ANBU he could remotely get along with.

"I was supposed to go and help my mom with something. But I'd rather get a drink than hear her nag."

Sasuke nodded and disappeared inside of the house again. When he came back out he was wearing his trench coat and a pair of the traditional shinobi sandals. Hanging on his lower back was his chokuto. Shikamaru wasn't sure if he had ever seen Sasuke without the sword since he came back. Neither of them said a word on their way to the training grounds. Shikamaru kep his eyes on the clouds. There was rarely a time when he didn't watch the clouds go by. He still often wished that there was a way to join them in their endless drifting. Sasuke on the other hand preferred to waalk alongside him and watch the ground. Since they had been to the training grounds millions of times it wasn't like they needed to pay real close attention. Upon reaching the training field they could see the former team eight training.

Actually it was just Shino and Kiba doing the training. Kiba was almost exaclty like Sasuke remembered him from their Genin days. Sure he had grown taller and his skills had increased. Otherwise he was still the same brash person he had once been. Akamaru was a lot bigger than he used to be. Depending on the weight of the subject he could easily carry two people on his back. Hinata was a different than her loud mouthed friend. Granted Sasuke never noticed her too much before he left to train with Orochimaru. She never was the tpe of person to let herself stick out from the rest. Now he was sure that she had changed quite a bit. For one thing she was much taller than she had been and her curves had filled out quite well. The only thing that Sasuke could seem to remember about her was that she was a rather shy and timid girl. A severe contrast to some others. Apparently that hadn't changed. Whenever she was intimidated by someone or a situation she would stutter and her silver eyes would flinch away. It seemed that so far they had gone unnoticed by the trio. Sasuke and Shikamaru stopped on the top of the small hill they were on to watch the sparring match.

Two Shino's were fighting with Kiba while Hinata and Akamaru watched on. Kiba ducked under a blow from one of the Shino's and spun around coming out of the spin he delivered a sharp uppercut to the second one's face. The Shino that he hit dispersed into hundreds of kikaichu. What happened next was so fast that even Sasuke had trouble seeing it. Shino used the_ Shunshin Jutsu_ to get behind what used to be his clone. His hand shot through the veil of bugs and grabbed Kiba by the collar. In one fluent motion Shino pulled him to the ground, sat on his back, and pinned both an arm and leg behind him. The move was basic but strong enough to keep the Inuzuka grounded.

Shino stared down at his struggling sparring partner through shaded eyes. "..."

Kiba's face split into a wide grin. "This isn't over yet bug boy! Get 'im Akamaru!" He commanded.

Both shinobi waited for the ninja dog to jump into action and try to save his master. A light feminine giggle caught their attention, causing Kiba to groan. Akamaru was rolling around in the grass with Hinata rubbing his belly. The dog panted and happily licked her face making her giggle even more.

The smile disappeared from Kiba's face and he groaned again in annoyance. "Fine. I give up," he admitted sheepishly. Shino got up and took a few steps back. Kiba pulled himself to his feet rubbing his sore arm. "Oi! Your killing me Hinata!"

Hinata's cheeks flushed a light pink. She wrapped her arms around Akamaru's neck and gave Kiba a small smile. "Sorry Kiba."

"Yeah sure," he grumbled.

"It looks like the mutt is down again. And I don't mean Akamaru."

Kiba growled and turned around. "Dammit what are you doing here Shikamaru?!" He growled.

"Don't get mad at me because the girls would rather play with Akamaru than you," Shikamaru quipped. One thing was sure. Shikamaru had become an even bigger smart ass than he used to be.

"Why you!"

"So your still alive huh?" Shino asked in his normal drawl.

Sasuke gave a curt nod of his head. "Of course not. I promised you a drink. Can't die until we have that drink."

"Hn?"

"Is there any better time to have the drink?"

"I suppose not. How did the mission go?"

"Hn."

Shino nodded in affirmation. Shikamaru and the others watched the two of them looking quite confused. How in the hell could they understand each other through their grunts?! Shikamaru shrugged. It wasn't his business to question such things. So instead he walked up beside them before looking back at the others.

"What about you guys?' He asked, extending the offer to Kiba and Hinata.

"I-I d-dont drink," Hinata stammered.

Kiba shook his head, his wild brown hair flailing out. "I have to do some more training."

The other three shinobi shrugged and began to walk away. Hinata however was trying to summon up her courage to say something. "Sh-Shino!"

Shino stopped and turned around. "Hm?"

Hinata flinched back. She tapped the tips of her index fingers together in an old nervous habit. "You...you p-p-promised to he-help me."

Shino quirked an invisible eyebrow. Then it came to him. _'I was supposed to help her train today. I told her yesterday that I would help.' _Shino sighed quietly. He didn't like to disappoint her but he really didn't feel like training today. The only reason that he sparred with Kiba was so that he could get the boy to be quiet. "Don't worry Hinata. I will help you tomorrow."

"B-but..." Hinata's face fell. She had really looked forward to training. She rarely got to see Kiba since he joined the ANBU and she saw Shino even less. She missed the training sessions that the two of them used to have. "A-alright."

Shino nodded and hurried after the others, they hadn't bothered to wait for him. Hinata sat back down on the ground in disappointment. She picked absent mindedly at a blade of grass. Senseing that she was upset Akamaru walked over and placed his head in her lap in an attempt to comfort her. Kiba felt a swell of pity for his quiet friend. Hinata looked up to only a couple of people and Shino was one of them. He walked over and placed a hand on he top of her head, making her jump.

"Are you alright Hinata?" He asked.

"I'm f-fine." She put on a smile that was painfully false to Kiba.

"You know I don't even know what he sees in Sasuke. The guys a traitor." Hinata blinked at looked up at her friend. Kiba gave her his usual grin and a thumbs up. "No worries though. We'll get him back."

One thing that you learned about Kiba after knowing him for awhile is that he had the innate ability to cheer others up. Hinata gave him a small smile and nodded.

* * *

**A Few Hours Earlier**

"Kakashi, are you sure that we're headed in the right direction?" Kurenai asked. She jumped to the next branch landing gracefully.

Kakashi looked to his left and nodded. "This was the direction that we're supposed to head in." He looked over to his right at his third squadmate for this mission. "Genma. Can you see anything?"

The brunette turned to look at Kakashi and shook his head. "Not a thing. Do you smell that though?" The three shinobi came to an abrupt halt in the trees. Kakashi and Kurenai sniffed the air and gave Genma a nod. "What does that smell like to you guys?"

Kurenai sniffed again before answering. "It smells like burning wood."

Genma nodded in agreement with her. "We're close," Kakashi said. "Okay. Keep it tight and move fast. I want to get this over with."

The other two nodded and together the three of them jumped down from the tree. They ran through the forest at a fast paced clip. Eventually they came to the clearing of the field where the complex was supposed to be. What they saw shocked them. The complex, what was left of it, was destroyed virtually beyond recognition. Almost completely burned to the ground. The rains that they had last night most likely had a hand in extinguishing the fires. The fire had spread pretty far around the area and charred some of the trees black. Blood covered the forest floor as well as the bodies it had been spilt from. Most of the bodies were burned, making them unrecognizable. The acrid smell of blood and burned flesh hung heavy in the air making Kurenai gaga slightly. She had never seen anything quite like this. Seemingly unaffected by the sight Kakashi moved to give them orders.

"Scour the area," he ordered. "Search for any proof that Sasuke was here and destroy it. If you find and survivors give a shout." Genma nodded and disappeared off to the left. Kurenai however still stared at the scene in mild surprise. "Kurenai? Something wrong?"

The brunette shook her head and turned to look at Kakashi. "...No." She turned around and went off to search the left side.

Kakashi sighed slightly. He had seen that look on the faces of many ninja when they saw the results of a slaughter. Seeing it oin Kurenai's face was a little surprising though. The kunoichi had always been so tough and virtually unshakeable. Kakashi shrugged his thoughts off and started his search. She was tough and would be able to handle this. The Copy Ninja looked through the bodies for any sign of survivors; so far he found none. Most of the bodies had been mutilated beyond recognition. It was hard to believe that Sasuke had been the one to cause such carnage. When push comes to shove it's rather easy to get carried away. Kakashi knew that for a fact and alson knew that it wasn't impossible for Sasuke to do this. How did he manage it though? When they found him he had chakra dampeners on. With his chakra supply cut off this should have been quite a task.

Kakashi briefly entertained a wild thought but shook his head. If he wanted to get back to the village soon he needed to finish his search. He made his way deeper into the remanants of the complex. After an intensive search he stumbled upon a body slumped over a charred desk. The body was no better off than the desk. Kakashi walked over an pulled the body up to take a look. Though the person had suffered extensive burns he was able to recognize it as their target Kazeno Takeshi. There was no doubt that the man was dead.

"Well Sasuke definitely managed to complete that part of the mission," he whispered. Off to the far left he saw another body on the ground. When he examined it his eyes opened wide. There was a hole in the body that went all the way through. "The chidori?! That's impossible!"

"Kakashi! Genma! Come quick!"Kakashi took one last look at the body before heeding Kurenai's call. He found the woman crouched over a body in the forest. "She's still alive!"

Genma joined them a second later and knelt down next to the body as well. "These injuries are pretty bad."

Kakashi found himself looking down on the body of a young girl of no more than seventeen years of age. She had long black hair that flowed about her even as she lay still. A large wound across her abdomen looked like it had been sealed shut. If Kakashi had to guess he would say that she tried to cauterize the wound herself. Burns sporadically covered the rest of her body. With the exception of a few cuts and minor burns her face was relatively clean. Once she got cleaned up the girl would look rather pretty. Just as Kurenai said she was still breathin, but just barely.

"The fact that she is still alive is amazing," Genma replied. "Kakashi your in charge. What do we do here?"

Kakashi sighed and pulled out a kunai. "What we were sent here to do," he replied.

Kurenai's wine colored eyes widened in surprise. She jumped up, inserting herself between Kakashi and the girl. "You can't just kill her!" She cried indignantly. "She's unarmed and injured. We have to try and help her!"

" I don't like it but we have a job to do," Kakashi responded indifferently. "Besides we can't help her. It's not like we have medics with us."

Genma nodded in agreeance with his fellow Jonin. "Kakashi is right Kurenai. She could die by the time we get her back to the village. Why cause her anymore pain?"

"I can't believe you two! If Asuma were here he would agree with me."

"Well he's not," Kakashi said. "He's on his mission and we are on ours."

Kurenai looked up at her senpai with pleading eyes. "Kakashi please," she begged. She turned and looked down at the girl. "Please don't do this. She's so young."

Kakashi looked at Kurenai and then down at the girl. He looked back at Kurenai again and saw the sadness in her eyes. There was a terrible clenching in his chest when he looked at her again. His hand holding the kunai lowered and his other hand cupped his chin in thought. This was going to com back and bite him in the ass. That much he knew. What he didn't know was why he was having trouble saying no to Kurenai. With a deep sigh he put the kunai back in it's pouch.

"Genma get the girl up," he commanded softly. Not one to question orders, Genma did as he was told.

Kurenai's head shot up. There was a big smile on her face that was a rare occurrence these days. "Kakashi..."

Kakashi raised a hand to silence her. "She is your responisibility," he said firmly.

Kurenai nodded enthusiastically, her hair bouncing about. "Thank you Kakashi. You won't be disappointed," she assured him.

_'My mind is telling me otherwise.' _He watched Genma pick the girl up like he was giving her a piggyback ride. "Let's move. We have to make a report and get the girl some help."

Kakashi leapt back into the trees with Kurenai close behind them. Genma followed after them carrying the girl on his back. Kurenai smiled and stared at the back of Kakashi's head. Even if he tried to hide it she knew that the white haired ninja had a soft side. Kakashi could feel her eyes on the back of his head and sighed. He knew that somehow this was going to come back and bite him on the ass.

* * *

"That's the difference between the two of us." 

Shikamaru glanced sideways at his fellow ANBU captain. "True. But only a mind like yours could think of using chopsticks to kill a person."

"I think it's brilliant," Shino said quietly.

"You would."

Sasuke, Shino, and Shikamaru found themselves in one of the few good bars in Konoha. Once Tsunade became the hokage she had several bars put in the village. The one that they were in was known as the _Crimson Heaven._ It was one of the lesser known bars which made it perfect for the ANBU. Especially when they needed to get away from everyone or life in general. The bar was very clean, well stocked with all kinds of liqours and even had decent food. Small round tables sat all around the place with three chairs at each of them. The bar was dimly lit and a few cieling fans spun around lazily. Light clouds of cigarette smoke filled the air with the sweet smell of tobacco.

"Can I get you boys anything else?"

The three ANBU looked up at the bartender. He was a large man in his mid thirties with a shaved head and a thick goatee. Large muscles strained against a tight black t-shirt. Despite the rough looking exterior most people that came in knew he was a kind person. His name was Kitagawa Jin a former shinobi of the village that retired due to an old injury. He cleaned one glass while he waited for them to decide. Sasuke looked at the other two and they shook their head.

"No we're fine," Sasuke answered briefly.

Shikamaru pulled out a pack of cigarettes and stuck one in his mouth. He offered the pack to Shino and started searching for his lighter. "I can never find the damn thing," he muttered.

Shino took one of the cigarettes and offered the pack to Sasuke. Sasuke hesitated for a second before taking one of the cigarettes. He didn't normally smoke. Usually only when he needed something to help him relax.

"Does Yoshino know that you smoke?" Jin asked, offering him a silver zippo.

Shikamaru took the lighter and shook his head. "If my mom knew I smoked I doubt I'd still have my ears after the nagging." He lit the cigarette and took a couple of drags to keep it lit. He handed the lighter to the others. "I can't help if Asuma's bad habits have rubbed off on me."

When Sasuke finished lighting his cigarette he handed the lighter back to Jin. The bartender took out a cigarette of his own and lit it. "I know your mom. She would kill you." He said going back to cleaning his glasses.

"My mom is troublesome," he muttered. "Women are troublesome in general."

Sasuke nodded along with that statement. It was the one thing that he had always been able to agree with Shikamaru on. "Especially pink haired ones," he muttered. He took a drag of his cigarette.

"Tell me about it," Jin replied. "After years of marriage my wife still grates on my nerves."

"I'm grateful for being single sometimes," Shino thought aloud.

Sasuke nodded. "Same here."

Shikamaru raised his glass in the air with Shino and Sasuke following suit. "To being single," he said. The others nodded and raised their glasses to his.

"Lucky bastards," Jin muttered.

After his drinks with the guys Sasuke walked off to a section of forest just off the training grounds. Shino went to help his father with some kind of family business. Likewise Shikamaru headed off to face his mother's wrath. The section of forest that Sasuke had walked off to was a place that he used to go to during his Genin days. The area was just a medium sized clearing in the forest jut off of the training grounds. He never understood why more people didn't use the area. That was one of the reasons that Sasuke liked it though. It was a quiet little place that was perfect for concentration. He took off his coat and laid it across a large flat rock near the opening in the forest. He pulled his chokuto from it's sheath and stared at the highly polished blade. Sasuke took great care of the sword just as he did with all of his weapons.

After a second of just staring at the gleaming blade he walked over to the left side of the clearing. Dug deep into the ground were wooden pegs that stuck up just a few inches from the surface. Sasuke gracefully leapt on to one of the pegs and raised his sword over his shoulder. He swiped downward, his legs staying perfectly straight. He spun the long sword with his fingers. Suddenly, twisted his body in a full 180 degrees and slashed out with his sword. In a series of blinding fast motions he swiped his blade in the air a dozen times; he leapt to another peg striking out with a front roundhouse with his right leg. As soon as his left foot landed on the peg he twisted so that his right leg was in the air and he was striking out at a downward angle with his sword. Following up at his lighting pace he pullled his sword to his chest and jumped off the peg into a butterfly twist. He rotated his body twice in the air before landing on a different peg. He twisted his body so that his right foot ended up on a different peg than his right. He stabbed his sword behind him then pulled it back to the front so that he held it diagonally in front of his face.

Just as Sasuke expected his injuries didn't affect him. He attempted to swipe out with the sword again but something stopped him. His vision had turned blurry and his hands started to shake. Sasuke looked at his chokuto and noticed how badly his right arm was shaking. He himself felt calm but his body acted like he was panicking. Normally when he held a sword, especially his ANBU sword or chokuto, he felt at peace. Now it seemed like he was scared of is own weapon. Finally the shaking in his hands got so bad that his sword fell to the ground. The sword seemed to fall in slow motion before it hit the ground with a dull clank. Sasuke slipped off of the pegs and fell to his knees.

_"Heh heh! Hahahaha! Poor Sasuke!" _The ever mocking voice of Orochimaru's played over in his mind. It sounded just like it had in his dream the other day. _"__You are never going to change are you? Your a slave Sasuke. A slave to your brother, the dead, and a slave to me. You have always been a slave and you always will be!"_

Sudden violent images flashed through his mind. He saw himself surrounded by fire cutting down those who got in his way. The people he was fighting against screamed in agony as he mercilessly cut them down. A ninja barely out of the academy screamed for his life. His fate was no different from the others. Sasuke watched as he raised his sword and struck him down with a sharp slice across the chest. He felt a presence behind him getting closer and closer. He reached over and grabbed the handle of his chokuto. The images still danced around him and he watched as he faced off with a girl with black hair. Sasuke watched as he rushed forward with blinding speed and swung out at her. The fire reflected in her dark blue eyes before she crumpled to the ground. Meanwhile, the person behind him was even closer than before. He gripped his sword tighter and turned around swingning ti so that it pointed straight out in front of him.

Tenten froze dead in her tracks. She had been out on a walk when she heard some noise in the forest. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her and she went to check it out. The sight that she walked in on was to see her captain going through his kata. She had never seen anything like that before. The style, balance, and speed were unbelievable. The amount of grace that he posessed had her mystified. She couldn't look away, that is until he fell off the pegs. Tenten wondered what had caused him to lose his balance and shake like that. It looked almost like he was having a panic attack. For a second she thought of just walking away. She was sure that if Sasuke knew she was watching him he would be angry. Still what if it had been his injuries affecting him? What if he needed help? So here she found herself on the wrong end of the sword. The other end being held by a very dangerous Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Tenten. Almost immediately he realized that he was in no danger. What was she thinking sneaking up on him like that? Sasuke lowered his sword and held it at his side. The flames slowly died from his eyes and the clearing came back into view. Tenten breathed a sigh of relief drawing Sasuke's attention back to her. She was dressed in white shirt similar to the one that she had been wearing the other day. Her pants were a dark red and looked a little baggy on her. Sasuke couldn't believe that he had been so preoccupied that he didn't even sense her there.

"How long have you been there?" He asked in a deadpanned voice.

Tenten thought about telling him that she had seen it all. "Not long," she replied. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her in disbelief. Feeling the need to take some attention off of herself she spoke again. "Are you alright?" She asked more out of curiosity than concern.

Sasuke didn't answer but rested the blade of his sword against his shoulder. Tenten gritted her teeth in annoyance at having been annoyed. "Fancy moves. But useless in combat," she taunted. "How about a quick spar?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her even farther. He wasn't angry about her insult but did wonder about her challenge. She never showed up to train with him and Shino. Instead she opted to go off and train with Lee and Neji. Why all of a sudden would she want to spar with him. When he didn't answer right away he noticed that she bristled with anger. So that was it. She hated to be ignored? Sasuke thought this a petty reason to pick a fight. Even more it was foolish of her to want to fight over something so trivial.

_'Why not teach her a lesson?' _Sasuke thought. _'Teach her why pride is a dangerous thing.'_Sasuke stepped back and raised his sword in a silent acceptance of her challenge.

Tenten smiled. She reached behind her and unsheatheed her ANBU sword. "Good. But you have to give me odds," she said quickly. "No jutsus and no sharingan. Just weapons and taijutsu."

Sasuke's smirk grew a little wider. Maybe she wasn't as stupid as he thought. "At your ready." Was all that he said.

Without warning Tenten leapt forward and striked out at his mid-section. Sasuke flicked his hand so that the tip of his blade was pointed at the ground and the hilt was pointed upward. Tenten dragged her blade along his and Sasuke twisted his body so that his sword slid right off of hers and he wasbehind her. The move caught Tenten off guard. She turned around just in time to raise her sword and block Sasuke's follow up attack. Their swords clanged off of one another and Sasuke stepped back. Tenten however leapt right back into him trying to push him off balance. Sasuke had the reach advantage and she needed to keep the pressure on him. She swung her sword in a simple downward arc that Sasuke blocked. She striked out again this time at his leg. Every time that she swung her blade her attacks became faster and faster. Sasuke managed to block each one of her strikes but didn't attack back. Tenten swung her sword in a strong downward arc that Sasuke again blocked. He locked swords with her and pushed her back several feet.

Tenten skidded to a halt and looked up with a smirk on her face. _'Just as I thought! His sword skills and taijutsu abilities are mediocre at best. He was good against Gaara in the Chunin exams but against a faster opponent he's not that great!' _Her smirk grew wider and sh straightened herself to stand at her full height. "Is that all you got Sasuke? I thought you were one of the elite. Show me what you can really do."

The calm look on Sasuke's face didn't change. It was a little frustrating to Tenten that he was still so calm even when she was striking out at him a moment ago. Sasuke suddenly moved to his right leaving images of himself in his wake. Tenten's eyes opened wide. At first she thought that he used a _shunshin_ or some other jutsu but then she realized that it was just his speed! He did the same thing, this time to his left. He weaved a zig-zag pattern that forced her to quickly lose track of him. Before she had the chance to realize just what had happened he was right in front of her. Sasuke lifted his hand that was holding his sword and brought it up into her chin. Tenten lost her balance and Sasuke threw his sword straight up in the air.

Seeing an opening Tenten struck out at him with her sword at head level. Sasuke bent backwatds at the waist allowing her sword to pass just over his head. He leaned all the back and planted his hands firmly in the ground. He did a back handspring, keeping his left leg extended while tucking his right knee against his chest. His left foot made contact with her hand, sending her sword flying into the sky. He came out of the handspring landing softly on his right knee. From where he was it would have been possible to hit her with the _Shishi Rendan. _Instead he simply sweeped his leg out and sent her tumbling to the ground. He jumped backwards and caught his chokuto just before it hit the ground. Tenten's ANBU katana landed on the ground next to her.

Tenten gritted her teeth. She pulled out several kunai from one of the pouches on her legs and some shuriken. She leapt to her feet and launched the weapons at Sasuke. The latter calmly tilited his head to the side letting the first kunai pass by. Sasuke lifted his sword and used it to block the rest of the projectiles. In one fluid motion he grabbed the final shuriken and threw it back at her with amazing speed. Tenten grabbed her sword off of the ground and used it to knock the shuriken out of the air. Sasuke shot towards her like lightning, just a few feet away from her he jumped into a butter fly twist. In the middle of his second rotation Sasuke reached out and placed an explosive tag on the blade of her sword. Tenten cursed and frrantically scraped the tag off throwing it to the side before it exploded.

Sasuke came out of the twist with his back towards Tenten. To his surprise he saw one of the tags on his left leg. He pulled it off and threw it to the ground just before it exploded. He used the force of the explosion to propel himself towards the tree just in front of him. He kicked off of the tree and launched himself back towards Tenten. The brunette kunoichi turned around just in time to see him coming through the dust clouds created by the tags. Sasuke slammed his fist hard into her face sending her clear across the clearing. Tenten felt the wind leave her when her back hit a tree hard. There was a dull thunk and she looked down to see that Sasuke's sword had pinned her shirt to the tree. She struggled to pull the sword out but it was embedded to deeply in the tree.

The next sound that she heard was something that she never hoped would be heard. It sounded like thousands of birds chirping all at once. They had a deal not to use any jutsu! And what was he even doing using that one in a sparring match?! He was going to kill her! Sweat started to pour down her face as she felt herself begin to panic. Her eyes squeezed shut waiting for the pain that was sure to come. But there was no pain. She just felt something cool against her neck. Tenten opened her eyes to see Sasuke staring her right in the eye. Sasuke opened his mouth and made the chirping sound that she had heard earlier. He pulled the kunai away from Tenten's throat and stepped back. Her eyes widened in shock. The chidori had been a fake.

Sasuke pulled the chokuto from the tree and Tenten fell to the ground. Sweat was pouring from her face and she was shaking slightly. In the first minute of the fight she had been in control. So what happened?! Unless...

_'He was playing with me,' _she realized. _'I didn't stand a chance from the beginning. He's on whole other level than I am! What is he?!'_ Tenten looked up and saw Sasuke walking back towards his coat. "Wait!" She called out before she could stop herself.

Sasuke stopped and turned to look at her. His cold onyx eyes stared right through her. "I won," he stated simply.

"Y-you were playing with me the whole time?" Tenten asked. She was still slightly winded from his last attack and her mind was just catching back up. "I didn't stand a chance..."

Watching her on her knees like that reminded Sasuke of how useless he always used to feel after he lost a fight. He wanted to tell her to grow up but for some reason he couldn't do it. "You were able to keep up with me for a bit. Give yourself some more credit." He turned around and swung his trench coat on over his shoulders.

Tenten shook her head slowly. "You could have finished that fight at anytime." Even when Neji would beat her in training she never felt this weak. Then again Neji had never played with her or trashed her this badly. "I-I never felt this weak before," she admitted.

Sasuke paused for a second before he finished sheathing his chokuto behind his back. He wasn;t going to spend all of his time trying to comfort this girl on her loss. It wasn't his style. Also it was her fault for picking the fight with him in the first place. If she wanted to wallow in misery over losing a sparring match it wasn't his problem. He started to walk away when she heard her call out to him.

"Sasuke wait!" Sasuke stopped and turned around to face her. The look on her face wasn't the same as a moment ago. She still looked a little lost but there was something else in her eyes. It looked like determination. "I'm so tired of being weak," she said. "I want to be strong to."

Sasuke allowed his curiosity to peak through for a second. His eyebrow arched in slight intrigue. "Why?" His voice held no curiosity.

Several reasons for wanting to become stronger ran through Tenten's mind. She was tired over not having any control over her life. She was tired of no one recognizing her. Tired of feeling lonely even with a group of people around her. She got tired of people telling her that she was weak and not very useful. Every time someone said that to her it made her feel like crap. On the rare occasion that Neji would say that to her it would nearly broke her heart. She wanted to prove to him and everyone else for that matter that she wasn't useless. Tenten had to prove that to herself. Which was why what she said next pained her more than anything in her life.

"Train me!" She said impulsively.

Sasuke stared back at his teammate. His facial expression never changed but the surprise showed clearly in his eyes. "What did you say?" He asked in a dangerously low voice. That was his way of better masking his surprise.

Tenten gulped but straightened up in resolve. If she wanted to prove to the rest of the world that she was strong she had to start with him. "Train me. Make me your student."

As they say: Pride goeth before the fall.

**End Chapter

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**There you have it folks chapter four! Will Sasuke say yes to Tenten's request?! What will happen from Kakashi's decision to bring back the injured girl?! Will we ever find out what ANBU team Kiba is on?! You'll just have to find out. Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter and the story so far. Peace!**


	5. Chapter 5: Her First Jutsu!

**I know that I left you all hanging off of a cliff last chapter and I'****m sorry. I give my thanks to those who are sticking with the story****. In the words of the great Mills Lane: Let's get it on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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**Chapter 5: Her First Jutsu!**

"Oh my god. Tenten you stupid girl what have you gotten yourself into?"

The young brunette sighed as she checked her reflection in the mirror. A large black and purple bruise formed around her eye from where Sasuke hit her. She reached up and gently touched the mark around her eye. The area was still tender and she winced in pain. Oh well. In her line of work getting bruises was normal. She was lucky that she didn't end up with a more serious injury. Sasuke was a powerful and dangerous individual; he could have killed her at any time if he wanted to. Not only that but his styles and way of thinking were very unique. On top of all that Tenten didn't have any strong emotional ties to the young Uchiha. That's why she asked him to take her as a disciple. Not only would he be able to make her stronger but she also wouldn't have to worry about impressing him. The problem was she couldn't figure out if she had done the right thing or not. Tenten glanced up in the mirror, recalling the conversation that she had with her leader earlier today.

**Flashback**

After their little sparring match Tenten found herself sitting across from Sasuke at a table in the tea house. The very same tea house where Sasuke had thanked her. Initially Sasuke turned her down on her request to be trained. She wouldn't take no for an answer. So for Sasuke sitting here with her must have meant that he was impressed with her determination. Either that or he was just having a drink with her before he killed her. Tenten was intimidated by him no doubt. When Sasuke spoke his voice was so cold and mechanical that it forced her to wonder if he was really human or not. But when he was silent like this it was completely impossible to even guess at what he was thinking. If possible that scared her even more. The brunette took a nervous sip of her tea, waiting for him to speak.

"Why ask me?"

Tenten blinked and looked up from her tea. She had to think about her answer before she was able to say it. "Because your the best," she answered honestly. "I want to be strong like you. I want to learn to think like you do."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. He didn't know much about Tenten except for one thing. She was full of pride. For her to ask him to train her and admit what she just had must have been hard. It showed just how serious she was about this. Sasuke still had reservations about training her. He was behind in his own goals his own life. Not that he really had a life anyways. Still this was something that he couldn't waist his time on.

After a long moment of silence he said, "I'm not the teaching type. Ask the Hyuga."

"No!" Tenten said quickly. A few of the people in the shop looked her way but she didn't seem to notice them. "I can't ask him!"

_'So she wants to get stronger for him?'_ Sasuke deduced quickly. _'She might as well have words printed on her forehead.'_ If she wanted to get strong for someone else this would never work. She had to want it for herself. That was the only way to get strong.

"A person like you would never understand." Sasuke looked up from the table and saw Tenten staring at her ANBU tattoo. Her eyes seemed distant and distracted. "Do you have a dream? Do you even dream? I do. I want to be the strongest kunochi. I want to prove to myself that I can do it. But I can't do it alone. I need help."

Sasuke looked down at his own tattoo. One of the reasons that he joined the ANBU was to see if he could. Another stepping stone on his way to gaining the power he so desperately needed. Was that the same reason that Tenten joined the ANBU? Was it because she thought that it would give her power? If so they were both fools. Titles didn't mean a thing if you couldn't do something to earn them. At that particular moment in time Sasuke wasn't sure why he asked this next question. He probably never would.

"If I were to train you what would you want to learn?"

Getting a little ahead of herself Tenten answerd, "Everything!" A little too exuberantly. Realizing that people were staring at her now, her cheeks flushed and she shrunk down in her seat a little. "Uh, what do you know?" She asked, trying to seem reserved.

Sasuke leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Basic and advanced non-class ninjutsu. I alson know: Katon, Mizu, Kaze, Tsuchi, and Hyoton. I know genjutsu and taijutsu. Kuchiyose and forbidden jutsus."

"What about forbidden jutsus?"

Sasuke looked up to see Kakashi and Kurenai standing behind Tenten. Tenten turned around and jumped slightly. "Kakashi-senpai, Kurenai-sensei? What are you two doing here?"

"Just wandering about," Kakashi answered. "Thought this would be a good place to stop for some tea."

Sasuke knew that this was a lie but he decided not to call him on it just yet. "So what about forbidden jutsu?"

Tenten started to stumble over her words. "She's asked to be my disciple," Sasuke said blatantly.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow in surprise and Kurenai did a double take. "And you are considering this?" Kakashi asked. "Won't having a disciple slow down your goal?"

"Or test my abilities," Sasuke answered.

"You're going to take me as a disciple?" Tenten asked in surprise.

Kurenai shook her head finally coming out of her stupor. "Even if you do you can't just go and teach her forbidden jutsus. Right Kakashi?" She asked, turning to him for support.

Kakashi nodded. "Right. That's why they are called, what is it? Oh yeah. Forbidden."

"Weren't you the one that tought Sasuke the chidori when he was twelve?" Tenten asked curiously.

Kakashi's visible eye shifted in every direction. "Carry on then," he said, turning to leave.

"Hey wait a minute!" Kurenai grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back. "First of all great lecture," she stated sarcastically. "Second we haven't told him why we're here."

Kakashi snapped his fingers. "That's right." Kurenai slapped her forehead as he pulled a thick envelope out of his pocket. "Here's your pay for the mission you completed. The council only thought it right." Sasuke accepted the packet with a small nod. "Also I was chosen to scour the sight of the complex. Good work. But you missed one."

Sasuke looked up at Kakashi and Tenten looked entirely confused. "What? What did you do about it?" He asked professionally.

"We brought her back to the village," Kurenai confirmed.

Kakashi nodded. "Don't worry about it though. She's in a coma and they don't expect her to wake up for awhile," he shrugged. Sasuke's eyes narrowed in thought. He was so sure that everyone had been dead. "Don't let us interrupt you," he said waving his hand. He acted as if what he had said was no big deal.

Sasuke looked up at Kakashi with narrowed eyes. He wasn't angry at Kakashi just a little surprised at what he had been told. "Don't let us get in the way of your date," he quipped back.

Kakashi, used to the barbs from his former student, was unfazed. Kurenai on the other hand was blushing and muttering dangerously under her breath. Tenten giggled at the reaction that Sasuke had garnered from the older woman.

"Tenten," Kakashi said. The girl immediately stopped laughing and looked up at the ANBU leader. "Sasuke has become a master of all techniques. Listen carefully. You may learn more than you would expect."

"S-sure," she answered. _'I wonder what he meant by that?' _Tenten turned back around in her chair and looked at Sasuke. He seemed to be lost in quiet contemplation. She lowered his head so that she could see his face better and grab his attention. Sasuke blinked and looked at her as if he just noticed she was there. Tenten put on her most business like face and stuck her hand out. "Do we have a deal?" She asked.

Sasuke looked at the offered hand. Millions of reasons ran through his head why he shouldn't accept her as a disciple. When was he ever the kind of person that listened to reason. He reached out a hand and took hers in his own. The two of them shook hands. Neither of them knew just what their little agreement would bring.

**End Flashback**

Tenten hoped that she was doing the right thing. She hadn't told Neji about her agreement with Sasuke because she didn't want him to get angry. There was no way she was going to tell Lee because he couldn't keep a secret to save his life. She hadn't told Gai because she was afraid that he might take it as an insult to his teaching abilitites. With a sigh she switched the light off and walked out of the bathroom. Her apartment was a tiny one bedroom place that served her just fine. It wasn't one of the best apartments in the village but it was all that she could afford. She walked over to her bed and flopped down on her back. Sasuke told her that they would start her training early the next morning so she decided to turn in early. She didn't even bother to undo her hair. Tenten's eyes fluttered closed as she drifted off to sleep.

**DAY 1**

Tenten twisted over in her sleep. The tapping sound that had started earlier in the morning grew louder. Her eyes slowly opened against her will. Whatever it was it sounded like something tapping against glass. She turned over and blinked her tired eyes. The sound came again fromoutside of her window. She sat up and looked towards the window with tired eyes. It was still dark outside and she could barely see that there was someone outside of her window. Once her eyes focused a little better she saw Sasuke standing outside of her window. Of course the fact that her apartment was several floors up didn't even register in Tenten's sleep addled mind. She pushed her covers off and walked over to the window. She opeened the window up and poked her head out. Sasuke was standing with his feet planted firmly against the wall of the building.

Tenten looked at him then down at the ground and back. "What d'ya want?" She asked in a tired voice. Had she been more awake she would have probably would have been able to form a better sentence.

Sasuke crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "It's time to start your training," he answered simply.

Tenten looked over at her alarm clock. Her eyes widened slightly. She looked back at Sasuke with incredulous sleep filled eyes. "Are you insane?" She muttered. "It's only 5 a.m."

Sasuke uncrossed his arms, ignoring her comments. "Meet me outside in five minutes. Dress comfortable."

With his piece said, Sasuke kicked off of the wall. He twisted his body in mid air and landed gracefully on his feet. Tenten blinked and pulled her head back in through the window. Sasuke leaned up against a tree outside the apartment, waiting patiently for his new disciple. Last night after coming home Sasuke had thought about this quite a bit. He didn't know the first thing about teaching someone to become stronger. Unfortunately he had already agreed to train her. A true Uchiha never goes back on their word. That was why he was going to take this as seriously as if he were training himself or sparring with Shino. Eventually had been able to come up with a starting point for their session. All he had to do was wait for her to get ready.

It wasn't long before Tenten landed beside him in a crouch. Despite them living in the Country of Fire the mornings could be quite cool in Konoha. The cool morning air hit Tenten full force waking her up a little more. She zipped her jacket up and looked up to Sasuke for direction. When she looked up though she saw that he was no longer standing against the tree. She turned her head to the side and saw that he was already several feet ahead of her. Tenten groaned and jogged to keep up with him. Even after they had been walking for awhile Sasuke didn't say anything to Tenten. She wondered if he even knew that she was there. She looked over and found herself staring at his face. His eyes were closed like he didn't need to look at his surroundings. The ever present blank but serene expression was still on his face. Tenten had never known anyone like Sasuke before. Not that she even knew him that well. The people that really knew him could probably have been counted on one hand.

Out of habit Tenten turned left to head for the training fields. It took her a minute to realize that she had taken the turn alone. Tenten turned around looking for Sasuke. She doubled back and saw that she had taken the right rather than the left. She hurried to catch up to him. When she fell into step with him she turned to look at him.

"We're not going to the training grounds?" She asked.

Sasuke opened his eyes but didn't look at her. "We're going to be training in the compund." Tenten's eyes widened slightly. He was going to take her back to the Uchiha compound?! "Another thing," his eyes grew dark. The air around Tenten suddenly seemed to get colder and she pulled her jacket closer to her. "I'm agreeing to do this on the grounds that you don't question me. I will end this if I have good reason."

Tenten grinned and waved her hand. "I don't intend on giving you a reason," she said.

Sasuke glanced over at her in silent approval. She had the same confidence as yesterday, unfortunately the pride was still there. It was much smaller than before but it was still there. He would have to break that later.

Tenten followed beside her leader in silence. The morning mist obscured the view of the Uchiha compund that loomed just in the distance. They crossed the bridge that lead them over the river just outside of the compound. Tenten was left in awe at the sight of the Uchiha compound. The place was the size of the Hyuga compound if not bigger. She followed Sasuke through the front doors and her eyes widened. Just as she expected, the compund was humongous. That wasn't what shocked her though. Where as the Hyuga compund was so full and bustling with people this place was empty. All of the buildings appeared to have been abandoned and in need of repair. To think that this had belonged to the most prestigous clan in Konoha. Tenten could imagine what this place had once been like. To see it now was truly a sad thing.

The kunoichi looked over at her new sensei to see how he looked at all of this. Sasuke's eyes were different than usual. In place of the cold onyx orbs she usually saw they had grown even dimmer. His eyes were haunted by memories of his past. It was the same look that she sometimes saw when she looked in the mirror. Tenten felt a small surge of sympathy towards the man beside her. Sasuke merely ran a hand through his hair and started walking again. He led Tenten past several of the buildings towards his house. Tente looked around her with great interest at her surroundings. Sasuke on the other hand only saw the ghosts of the past. Just as he did whenever he made his way through the compound. Eventually they reached the main house of the compound.

Tenten's eyes popped open. "Wow," she whispered. "Is this your house?"

Sasuke silently nodded. The house was probably the biggest that Tenten had ever seen. Large stone walls surrounded the land. The house was at least three stories and judging by how far the walls traveled the plot of land had to be huge. Sasuke led her through theb front gate and Tenten was able to see just how huge the land was. Unlike the rest of the compound this particular place seemed alive. Beautiful gardens with various types of flowers both native and exotic showed proudly in the early morning light. Off to the right was what appeared to be a courtyard. Sasuke walked to the left and she followed him around to the back of the house. If the gardens in the front of the house were beautiful then they didn't even compare to the ones in the back. The beds of flowers were surrounded by lush grasses. A small stream ran through the middles of the backyard. Tenten knelt down and sniffed some of the flowers.

"This yard is so beautiful," she complimented. She looked up at Sasuke and smirked. "Never had you figured as much of a gardener."

"I'm not," Sasuke answered. He motioned for Tenten to follow him down a flight of stone stairs at the end of the yard. "The flowers here grow naturally. My aunt always said that as long as an Uchiha lives on this land they will do so."

Tenten nodded. She had heard multiple legends about certain chakras being able to stimulate the growth of plant life. "So where are we going?"

"To one of my training places."

When they reached the bottom of the stairs Tenten found themselves to be in a wide open field with lush green grass . In front of them was a lake that was surrounded on all sides by trees. To their left were tall trees, their branches rustling slightly in the breeze. Sasuke took off his coat and laid it down on the ground. Tenten finally caught a glimpse of what he was wearing. He was dressed in a a dark blue long sleeved shirt that hung a little loosey on him. The right sleeve was longer than the left one and over lapped his hand. The top around the neck revealed quite a bit of his well toned chest. His pants were the usual shinobi pants with the pouches on the sides. Oddly Tenten found herself staring at the young man.

_'I never noticed before but Sasuke has nice muscles.' _Tenten shook her head furiously and looked at the ground. _'No! Bad Tenten! You aren't supposed to notice those things about your teammates!'_

_"Why not?" _Asked a voice in her head. _"You think of Neji like that."_

_'That's completely different! And there is no way that you are comparing Uchiha Sasuke to Neji!'_

"Let's get started."

Tenten opened her mouth to argue, thinking that it was the voice trying to order her around. Luckily she realized just in time that it was Sasuke. The kunoichi took a deep breath to get herself under control. Some excitement took over her as she thought about starting her training.

"What am I going to learn first?!" She questioned with enthusiasm. "Katon style jutsus! Or maybe tsuchi!"

Sasuke didn't answer her. The enthusiasm that she had was a good thing but it would lead her to disappointment today. He pulled his right sleeve up so that his hand was visible. "Neither." Tenten's face fell in disappointment just like expected. "First we need to do a simple chakra test."

"Chakra test?" She asked curiously.

Sasuke nodded. "It'll let me know what I'm dealing with."

"Okay. What do I have to do?"

"...Hold out your hands, palms up. And when I say focus on summoning your chakra."

Tenten nodded and held out her hands just like he instructed. Sasuke held his hands out over her own. He placed his hands against her's so that their palms were touching. Sasuke focused a thin layer of chakra into his hands so that it seperated them a little bit. He opened his eyes and gave her the okay.

"Now. Try and make your chakra flare up around your body and push back against my hands," he instructed calmly.

Tenten nodded and closed her eyes. She focused her chakra, a faint blue glow surrounded her body. Just as Sasuke said she tried to make her chakra flare out around her. Sasuke watched her in only faint interest. So far he didn't see anything special about her. So far her amount of chakra was barely average and her strength was minimal. Tenten opened her eyes and saw the look on Sasuke's face. He looked so unimpressed. Like all of this was just a waist of his time. Well she would show him. She would show him just how wrong he was about her.

Sasuke sighed. _'Just an average amount of chakra. No real strength behind it at all. How disappointing, I really expected more.'_

Just as he was about to stop with the test Sasuke felt a change. It was like something was trying to escape from within the kunoichi. He looked up and saw her face straining in concentration. Her chakra that seemed like it had started off a small spark suddenly flared up. It continued to flare out around her until it surrounded the both of them. Sasuke could see tiny veins forming on her forehead from the strain she was putting on her self. She was losing conciousness as made evident by her fluttering eyes Finally the chakra burst forth from her roaring like a blue fire. This was much different than what Sasuke expected from her. He didn't think that she would have this much chakra. Sasuke focused some more chakra into his hands to drown out hers. The addition of his chakra to hers made their chakra erupt in a explosion of blue energy that reached all around them.

Sasuke watched Tenten lose conciousness and fall to the ground. He lifted his hand up and looked at his palms. Tiny burns from their chakra covered his hand. "Not bad. Things have become interesting."

* * *

Sasuke walked into the resturaunt bars and took a look around. He quickly spotted the object of his search. Kakashi was sitting at a table over in the corner of the resturaunt. Gai was sitting at the table with him obviously trying to challenge Kakashi to another one of his outrageous contests. Sasuke walked over to them weaving in and out of the tables. When he reached the table he simply took a seat next to Kakashi without a word. Gai and Kakashi turned to look at the new arrival. Kakashi put his book down and Gai gave him a big toothy grin. 

"Sasuke!" He said brightly. "Kakashi here was just telling me about your new student! It's great to finally see you embracing your youth!" Gai gave Sasuke a thumbs up and his teeth did that sparkle thing.

If Sasuke had to be honest he did always wonder how Gai and lee did that. Kakashi however was there to cut his thoughts short. "I thought today was your first training session with Tenten. Where is she?"

Sasuke motioned towards the bottle of sake. Both kakashi and Gai gave him the go ahead. He grabbed the bottle and poured himself a glass of sake. ""She's sleeping," he said. He downed the sake in one go.

"That bad at teaching are you?" Kakashi asked.

The only two people in the world that were able to insult Ssuke without dying were Shino and Kakashi. "I did a chakra test on her."

Kakashi's visible eye blinked slightly in intrigue. He didn't know that Sasuke knew how to do a chakra test. "And how did she do."

A small smirk appeared on the Uchiha's face. "That good?" Gai asked in surprise.

Sasuke placed his right arm on the table and pulled his sleeve up. "She was able to burn my hand. She has a large chakra reserve. Probably more than your's Gai. I'd say close to your level Kakashi."

Gai shook his head. "That's impossible!" He declared stunned. "I'm her sensei I would have noticed that!"

"Not if she didn't even know about," Sasuke answered calmly. His eyes narrowed slightly. "When I was doing the test I felt something blocking her chakra."

Kakashi nodded. "If she didn't know the amount of chakra she truly had there was no way she could utilize it," he stated knowledgably. He placed his hand to his chin in thought. "I wonder what was blocking it."

Sasuke shook his head. "No clue," he monotoned. "But if I can train her to strengthen it, mold it, and work on her stamina...we'll see something special."

* * *

Tenten's eyes squeezed tightly then opened wide. She bolted up and looked around her with wide eyes. "Where am I?" She asked herself aloud. 

When she woke up she found herself in a place she had never been before. It looked to her that she was in the living room of someone's house. She was correct in assuming that this room was a living room. The floors of the room were entirely hardwood. The only area that was carpeted was in order to keep the furniture from scuffing the floor. She realized that what she had been laying on was a black three person couch. Just in front of it was a glass coffee table with legs and a frame that appeard to be crafted from bamboo. At the ends of the table were two chairs that matched the couch. Against the wall opposite of the couch was a large stone fireplace On either side and all around the room for that matter were plants of various types. Once again Tenten wondered where she was and how she got there. The last thing she rememberd was doing the chakra test with Sasuke, then darkness.

Tenten swung her legs over the edge of the couch and stood up on shakey feet. She wasn't in any pain but she felt physically exhausted. The room that she was in appeared so dim despite the sunlight that she could see just on the other side of the black curtains. As soon as her eyes focused a little more she took another look around the room. There were some shelves with books around the room as well as what apppeared to be a liqour cabinet. Tenten guessed that wherever she was this room was used for entertaining guests. Just as she made up her mind to go exploring her nose caught the scent of something. The aroma was rich and earthy almost like someone was drinking tea. She took a step forward and found that her balance wasn't all that bad. She followed the scent out into the hallway and towards a room at the end.

Tenten poked her head through the doorway. It was easy to tell that this was where the meals were eaten. The most important thing that she noticed was Sasuke. He was sitting at the table taking steady sips from a steaming cup of tea. That's when Tenten realized that she was inside of his house! Since she didn't remember how she had gotten here did that mean that he brought her here? She debated whether or not it would be proper to join him. Then again she never knew what protocol was around the young ANBU captain. That was one of things that intrigued her about Sasuke and also one of the things that annoyed her about him.

"Are you going to sit down or stand there?"

Sasuke's cut through her thoughts like a kunai, making her jump. She walked over and nervously sat down across from him. Sasuke lifted the pot of tea on the table and poured a second cup. Sasuke offered the cup to her which she accepted with a gracious bow of her head. Tenten looked at the liquid for a second. She took a sip savoring the bitter hot liquid as it ran down her throat. Sasuke knew how to make a good cup of tea and that in itself was a surprise. After a long momemt of silence it became unbearable for Tenten.

"Um," she mumbled. At that moment she sounded like Hinata. She metally slapped her self for acting so nervous. "Where are we?" Tenten asked crisply. She didn't mean to sound so ungrateful that was just the way that it came out.

Sasuke glanced up from his tea only momentarily. "My house. You passed out during the chakra test. I brought you back here," he explained.

Tenten hung her head in embarrassment. "I passed out?"

"It's normal," he replied.

"Oh. So how did I do?" She requested awkwardly.

Sasuke took a moment to think before asking his question. "Tenten, what is the name of your clan?"

Tenten was a little confused by this question. "I don't understand."

"Your family name. What is it?"

Tenten's eyes suddenly clouded over and she found the table real interesting. "I don't know it," she replied sadly. Sasuke's eyebrows knitted together in curiousness. "I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents."

"...I see," Sasuke said finally. Sasuke decided that changing the conversation would be a good idea. "You have a very high level of chakra. Maybe more than Gai. And certainly more than Lee or Hyuga."

Forgetting about her depression for a second her head shot back up. "Wh-what?"

"I'm going to teach you," he said decidedly.

"Really!"

"With that amount of chakra you can go far." He closed his eyes and nodded to himself. "Go home and get some rest. We start tomor-" _**Thunk! **_Sasuke opened his eyes and saw her passed out on the table. He blinked a couple of times and shook his head. "We've got to work on stamina," he muttered. 

**_DAY 2_**

When Tenten woke up this morning she found herself back in her own bed at her apartment. At first her memories of the previous day were a little hazy. Then she remembered the chakra test and waking up in Sasuke's house. The last thing that she remembered was Sasuke telling her the results of her test and his agreeing to train her. Anything after that was a blank to Tenten until she woke up. She was back in her own apartment with no knowledge of how she got there. Did that mean that Sasuke brought her home himself. That would have been very niceof him so she would be sure to thank him. Until yesterday she had never thought of him as having an ounce of kindness.

After she woke up Tenten found a short note left for her on the night stand. It read: Come to the same place. Same time. That morning she had been excited to wake up so early. That was why when she walked to the field that morning she had been very surprised at what she saw. In the middle of the field were four rocks arranged to form a square. Sitting on top of the four rocks was a pane of glass. The glass didn't even look like it was a quarter of an inch thick. It appeared to be so fine that it would break as soon as someone touched it. Tenten sat her bag of equipment down and looked at Sasuke.

"Looking for new windows?" She asked sarcastically.

Sasuke glared at her making her cringe slightly. "Have you ever done the tree climbing exercise?"

Tenten changed her attitude and nodded. "Yeah, Gai-sensei had us do the tree climbing exercise when we were Genin. I was the first one to reach the top of the tree!" She stated proudly.

_'So was Sakura. I wonder if women generally have better chakra control than men?' _

Sasuke didn't voice his thoughts one way or the other. Instead he pulled off his coat and walked towards the glass. He focused the chakra into his feet and stepped up on the glass. Tenten was shocked that he was able to stand on the glass with out it breaking. She had never seen anything quite like that before. The glass should have easily shattered under his weight. Sasuke walked towards the edge of the glass and stepped off. Tenten just stared at him a second before shaking her head.

"You cannot seriously expect me to do that!" She cried, pointing at the pane of glass.

Sasuke shook his head. "No. But when we are done you will be able to do that." He walked around the glass and beckoned her to join him where they would have more room. "Today we're practicing basic ninjutsu."

"Basics!" Tenten whined uncharacteristically. "I thought i was going to get to learn some new stuff."

"The first step to becoming stronger is to have a firm understanding of the fundamentals."

"That's what Gai-sensei always says."

Sasuke nodded in affirmation. "Show me your basic _bunshin jutsu,_" he said.

Tenten nodded. She flashed the hand signs necessary. "_Bunshin no Jutsu_!" There was abour four puffs of white smoke and suddenly there were five Tentens in the field.

Sasuke nodded. "Okay. Now transform yourself to look like...Ino," he said with a shrug.

The clones around Tenten disappeared as soon as she started to her new hand signs. "_Henge no Jutsu!_" Another puff of smoke surrounded Tenten. When the smoke cleared she had taken on the appearance of the blond kunoichi. She even struck Ino's flirtatious pose. "This good enough?" She asked.

"That's fine." Tenten reverted back to her normal form waiting for more instruction on what to do. "Good of you to join us Shino."

Tenten turned around and saw Shino walking towards them. What surprised her the most was that Hinata was beside him. The timid girl stuck close to him, seemingly nervous of her surroundings. However, tenten couldn't blame her. Walking through theUchiha compound was a little intimidating. Especially with all of the people gone.

Shino glanced over at Tenten and a smirk formed behind his collar. "So rumors are true." Shino said. He wasn't adressing either Sasuke or Tenten. Just a general statement. "You have a disciple."

"How did you know?" Tenten asked curiously.

"Sasuke," he said simply.

"By the way Gai knows."

Tenten turned to Sasuke and shook her head. "Gai-sensei! How does her know!"

"Kakashi."

"Ugh! Is nothing secret anymore?!"

"A-are you okay Ten-chan?" Hinata asked.

The brunette shook her head vigorously before giving Hinata a bright smile. "Of course!" 'Dammit! What if Gai tells the others! Neji is going to be so angry!'

"In case you forget we are supposed to be training," Sasuke said.

Shino nodded. "Didn't mean to interrupt. Hinata, are you ready?"

Hinata nodded. She turned around and bowed to Sasuke. "A-ano. I-I hope y-you don't m-m-mind?"

"Of course he doesn't mind!" Tenten said automatically. Sasuke glared at her for answering for him. "Of course you should really make that decision," she said tightly.

Sasuke turned to Hinata. He remembered a time when the Hyuga clan and Uchiha clan used to get along. Of course he was very young at that time. "Of course."

Hinata blushed and thanked him. Shino and Hinata walked off to the side to begin their own training session while Sasuke and Tenten continued on. "Let's go._ Kawarmimi no jutsu_," he ordered.

So for the rest of the day the four shinobi trained. Shino and Hinata continued to do something that she had never seen before. Shino would name a tenketsu point and she would strike at that point. Each time Shino would name more and more points and Hinata would strike at them as fast as she could. Sasuke continued to test Tenten in her knowledge of basic skills. Every once in a while Sasuke would give her a pointer on how to improve her skills. Eventually the two of them moved on to testing her capabilities in battle using the basics. She hadn't done quite as well as when she was just demonstrating them. This led Sasuke to believe that she didn't use them too much in combat situations and relied on her weapon skills to save her. By the time the four of them were done they were all tired and sweaty. Sasuke and Shino were talking to one another while Tenten and Hinata talked.

"Ten-chan, w-why ar-are you tr-training with S-sasuke-san?" Hinata asked.

Tenten frowned. It was rare for Hinata to stumble around her anymore. Must have been her surroundings. "I wanted to get stronger," she stated bluntly.

"Y-you are strong."

"No I'm not. Sparring with Sasuke-sensei taught me that. I was just hoping that I would get to learn some new things. All we've done is practice basics." There was a slight lag in the conversation. "Um Hinata?"

"Yes?" The Hyuga asked, rubbing a spot on her leg.

"D-does Neji know a-about this?" She asked.

Hinata jumped and looked up at her friend. She didn't know exactly what to say to her but she had to say something. A-ano..." she began tapping her index fingers together.

"So you have decided to train Tenten then." Shino said. "You must think she has potential."

Sasuke took a drink of water from his bottle and tossed it to Shino. "She has a lot of untapped chakra. If I can get her to work with it I believe she could be strong."

"Why ask you though?" Shino asked. He took a drink and tossed the water bottle back to Sasuke.

"...I'm not sure," Sasuke answered truthfully. He was one of the first to admit that he didn't like people and wasn't good at dealing with them.

"Um Sasuke?" Sasuke turned around and looked at Tenten. Sasuke may not have been good with people but he was good at reading them. There was something that she wanted to ask and she was nervous to do so. He nodded for her to continue. "I don't want to sound ungrateful but I was really hoping I would get to learn a new jutsu soon."

Sasuke gazed at Tenten in a scrutinizing way. Where as she used to sound excited about learning a new jutsu she now sounded a little urgent. Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed. "What was my one condition?" He asked coolly.

Tenten's face fell. "Don't question you," she whispered dejectedly. She turned around and walked away sullenly.

Sasuke had never seen anyone look like that before. If she couldn't take disappointment than maybe she wasn't ready for the kind of training that he had in store for her. "She passed the basics," Shino said. Sasuke turned back around and looked at him. "Maybe she is ready for something new," he said.

Sasuke turned back around. Tenten was talking with Hinata but not as cheerfully as before. She did have a high amount of chakra. Maybe Shino was right. Perhaps she was ready for something new. "Tenten," he called.

Tenten turned around and looked at her sensei. Sasuke held up a hand much in the way that Itachi used to do and beckoned for her to come closer. Tenten glanced inquisitively at Hinata. The other girl simply shrugged and nervously gestured for her to go over there. Tenten walked over to her sensei, apprehensive of what awaited her.

**End Chapter

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**Well that's the end of this chapter. It took me a little longer than usual but I hope you all liked it. Next chapter we finally get to see what team Kiba is on! Please review and give me your thoughts.**

**Translation Notes**

**Bunshin no Jutsu-Clone Technique**

**Henge no Jutsu-Transformation Technique**

**Kawarmimi no Jutsu-Substitution Technique**


	6. Chapter 6:One Mission! Two Teams!

**Hey everyone I'm back for another installment. Thanks to all of my loyal readers and reviewers as well as my newcomers.**** Mana has been mostly right in her assumptions of how Tenten sees Sasuke**** (for now)**** so she gets a special treat this chapter. Enjoy**** everyone.**

**Disclaimer: No own Naruto!

* * *

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**Chapter 6: One Mission! Two Teams!**

"I'm not sure why you would ask Sasuke for help. True he is strong, but we have Gai-sensei!"

"Because Lee. I've learned all that I can from Gai-sensei. No offense sensei. I want to learn new things and Sasuke can teach them to me."

Tenten was sitting down with her former team at the Korean barbecue place eating lunch. It had been barely a week since becoming Sasuke's disciple. Each day was full of tough training sessions that left her tired and sore. The pain from the training sessions wasn't what made all of this so hard. What seemed to be causing the most problems was that her friends didn't exactly react to the new situation too well. Lee wasn't angry with her. No, he was just confused as to why she didn't come to them for help. His constant questioning was beginning to get on her nerves though. On the other hand Neji had been ignoring her completely and that's what upset her the most. Tenten had always put so much stock in what he thought; so when he ignored it her it really hurt. It seemed like the Hyuga was taking this as a personal betrayal and she didn't exactly blame him. There was one plus though.

"Now Lee, this is Tenten's decision," Gai admonished. "We should support her decision."

Gai supported her full force. "Thank you Gai-sensei," she said a little more cheerfully.

"As your former sensei I have a great interest in your new learning career." Gai flashed her his big toothy grin complete with sparkle. "Have you learned anything new from your sensei."

"Well...sort of."

**Flashback**

After their training was done for the day Sasuke was beckoning Tenten to come to him. She was a little nervous about what Sasuke wanted from her. Was he mad at her for questioning his methods? Did he want to stop training her already! Tenten walked up to Sasuke with her hands folded down around her waist. Unfortunately for tenten she hadn't put her headband on today. Sasuke quickly reached up with his left hand and tapped her sharply on the forehead.

"Ita!" She whimpered putting her hand to her forehead. "What was that for?"

"You want to learn a new jutsu?" Sasuke asked offhandedly.

"What?! You mean it?!" She asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Pay close attention," he ordered seriously. Tenten nodded enthusiastically. "Shino."

Shino nodded. He walked over to Hinata to gain her attention. He grabbed her by the sleeve of the jacket and pulled her out of the way. Sasuke turned towards the lake and took a breath. Tenten kept her eyes locked firmly on Sasuke to see what he was going to do. The latter formed a series of quick hand signs that she could barely see. Sasuke inhaled deeply and when he exhaled a large ball of fire burst from his mouth with tremendous force. The size of the blast and the shear intensity of the heat surprised Tenten. She watched as the ball fired towards the lake at high speeds. After traveling over the water for a minute the ball of flames dissipated.

Sasuke turned to her and nodded. "Here's the signs: snake, tiger, monkey, boar, horse and tiger." As he said each hand sign he performed them slowly. "Focus your chakra. Inhale and then exhale."

"Right!"

Tenten saluted and started to run off. She was anxious to try out her new jutsu. Sasuke grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. The intensity in his eyes captivated Tenten. There was a small spark under the normally cold eyes. "I'm taking this seriously. This jutsu is important. This is your first step to becoming strong."

Tenten gave him a committed nod. "I won't fail then!" She said in determination.

**End Flashback**

Tenten sighed and shook her head. "I still haven't been able to do it though. Everytime I just keep getting a little more flames," she griped.

Nobody said anything to this, they didn't know what to say. Neji sighed. He stood up and walked away from the table. Tenten blinked as she watched him walk towards the door of the resturaunt. She leapt up out of her chair and followed after him. Gai and Lee shared slightly apprehensive looks. They knew how Neji felt about Tenten being trained by Sasuke. It was obvious to the both of them that Neji didn't like Sasuke. It was also obvious that Neji was angry about Tenten not coming to them for help. There was something else bothering the young man though. And they couldn't tell what that was.

Tenten caught up to Neji just outside the door as he was getting ready to leave. "Neji wait!"

Neji stopped and turned around. "What is it Tenten?" He asked in his normal low voice.

The brunette looked down at the ground and started rubbing the sore spot on her arm. "Are you mad at me?" She asked curiously. Neji's eyes widened, he never expected that from her. "You've been kind of avoiding me the last couple of days."

Neji sighed and placed a hand on his hip. He knew that he wasn't mad at Tenten per se. He just had to find a way to put it into words. "I'm not angry with you Tenten. Just the situation."

"The situation?"

Neji nodded. "I don't trust him. I trust him even less to take on a student and train them properly." Before he could say anything else avoice in his head spoke up. _'Would I be this mad if it was someone else? Of course. The last thing that we need is a third Orochimaru on her hands.'_

"He's not that bad of a teacher," Tenten admitted. Neji gave her an incredulous look that made her smile. "Getting bruised is all part of training. And the burns are from me trying to do that jutsu."

Neji didn't answer her, he just stared off into the sky. Tenten sighed in disappointment before checking her watch. Holy crap she was late! " Neji I-I'm sorry! I'm late for training, I have to go! Say goodbye to Gai-sensei and Lee for me!"

Neji watched her run off and shook his head. If he didn't know any better he would have sworn that she was worried about being late. His silver eyes drifted up to the sky. His long brown hair blew in the wind. He leaned against the wall of the resturaunt and closed his eyes. Things had been taking a toll on the Hyuga prodigy lately. First his refusal to take the suicide mission a week back had affected him. He always thought of himself as the take on all challenges type of person. Not accepting that mission caused him to doubt himself. Now, not being able to tell Tenten how he really felt about all of this made it even worse. If he wanted to fix this he would have to take action himself. Because this obviously wasn't going to fix itself.

Tenten ran down the stairs to the field that they used for training. When she got their Sasuke was standing in the middle of the field by himself. This wasn't the first time that he had been like this when she came to practice. "You're late," Sasuke said. He turned around slowly to face his young charge. The wind blew his long hair into his face. Sasuke raised a hand to hold his hair back and stared at her questioningly.

"Sorry," Tenten replied dryly. She wasn't quite so sure why she was being so brunt with her teacher. It was probably just her frustration at not having mastered the new jutsu yet. "I was talking with Neji."

Sasuke chose not to comment on this. His morning already hadn't been that great and he didn't want to do anything to make it worse. "Same thing as yesterday. Get to work."

Tenten gave her sensei a brief salute and walked over to the small dock that stood over the water. And so the day went on. Tenten would try over and over to perform the jutsu. Every time she would fail. Sasuke watched her as she failed over and over again. Once in a while he would give her tips but they didn't seem to help. Maybe there was no way for her to learn this jutsu. Or maybe it was too soon for her to learn the jutsu. Whatever the problem, the training didn't seem to be working. She had been at it for several hours and it was starting to get late.

_'I shouldn't have expected her to get this right so quickly. She isn't ready.'_

Sasuke heard a loud thunk and turned around. Tenten was down on her knees and had just hit the dock. Sasuke sighed and walked over to the girl. "Tenten, forget this jutsu. We're moving on."

"What?!" Tenten stood to her feet and turned around. "What do you mean we're moving on?!"

"You aren't ready for this jutsu."

"I am! I can do this! I've been practicing real hard and I'm really close!"

Sasuke looked down at her and he noticed small burn marks around her mouth. She wasn't lying she had been practicing. "Why is this so important to you?"

Tenten glanced down at the ground and rubbed her arm. Part of it was for the original reason she asked Sasuke to train her. She wanted to become stronger and impress Neji. Of course there was always the hidden motive of getting to know her teammate better. Lately there was a new reason for wanting to master the jutsu. Tenten noticed the disappointed look that Sasuke had whenever she would fail at performing the jutsu. Once again she felt the strong urge to try and impress others. And now she finally had to admit to herself that she actually wanted to impress Uchiha Sasuke.

"I just...I want to get strong. I want to be strong like you or Neji. That's why I can't give up on this jutsu," she said in determination.

Sasuke walked behind her so that their backs were facing one another. "You can't become strong like me. Nor can you get strong for anyone else." Sasuke looked back at her over his shoulder. "You can only be strong like you and the only way you can get strong is if you do it for yourself." Sasuke turned around and continued to walk towards the house. "I'll give you a second chance."

Tenten blinked slightly in surprise. She had never heard anyone tell her that before. It was always practice the basics and you'll get better. Or do this like me if you want to be stronger. Gai sensei always told her that you needed to become stronger for the other people around you. So that you could protect them. Maybe all she needed in order to become stronger was to do it for herself. She had tried evrything else already. Why not this?

* * *

The next day they found themselves in the exact same place and training regiment. The only difference was that Shino was with them this time. Tenten of course was trying to perfect her newly acquired jutsu. Sasuke and Shino on the other hand were sparring and rather fiercly at that. Every once in a while Tenten would turn around and glance quickly at her teammates. The way that the two young shinobi moved amzed her. She had never seen so many _Shunshin Jutsu_ being used in such a rapid succession. The three of them had been training all morning with no end in sight. Until just just now that is. The sound of a hawk's cry caught the attention of the young ANBU team. Sasuke signaled Shino to stop and watched the hawk for a second. 

_'That's the hawk that Kakashi uses to send messages. I wonder what he wants?' _Sasuke walked over to where the hawk was circling and waited for it to land on his arm.

Tenten saw this as her chance. There had been a question on her mind but it was about Sasuke and she didn't want to ask him. However, since Shino knew him so well, she should just be able to ask him. The kunoichi hurried over to Shino, trying her best to look inconspicuous.

"Hey Shino?" Shino turned around and arched an eyebrow just above his glasses. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Hn?"

Tenten wasn't sure but she was going to take that as a yes. "Why is this jutsu so important to Sasuke? He seemed sort of disappointed when I couldn't do it."

Shino placed his equipment pouch down on the ground. The answer to the question wasn't hard to figure out at all. It was whether he should answer the question or not that was hard. Shino looked up and Tenten and then over to Sasuke who was curretnly tending to the hawk. Normally he would stay out of something like this. After all it was a matter between a student and her. However, Shino didn't see a problem getting involved on this one.

"The _Gokakkyu no Jutsu, _was a rite of passage in the Uchiha clan," Shino replied. "You weren't considered a ninja until you could perform the jutsu correctly."

Tenten was a little surprised to hear of this information. "So that's why he started me out with this." The kunoichi turned around and watched Sasuke and the hawk. _'To think that he would share something so important with me. Even if he didn't mean to. The rite of passage in the Uchiha clan. Maybe he has more faith in me than I thought.'_

"Shino! Tenten!" Tenten jolted from her reverie and looked up. Sasuke was walking towards them with the hawk on his arm. "Kakashi says we have an ANBU meeting in ten minutes. Go get your gear and report to meeting place A."

Shino and Tenten gave a quick salute and hurried off. Tenten glanced back over her shoulder but Sasuke was gone. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but worry what this meeting was about. The last one hadn't turned out so well.

It took Sasuke all of three minutes to find his ANBU gear and change. The last thing that he put on was his mask. The mask was different from the traditional masks of the ANBU and signified that he was a member of team _Karasu. _The mask resembled that of a raven with the sharp beak like nose on the front. The mask ws black in color with purple marks down the front. The marks started at the sides of the mask and curved upwards. The eye holes of the mask were white in color but were very easy to see out of. Sasuke slipped the mask over his face and leapt out of the window of his room. In a blinding fast motion he leapt over the walls of the compound and continued on through the trees. He had just reached the half way mark when he sensed three other people converging on him. Without even looking he could tell that it was Shino, Tenten and Shikamaru.

"Anybody know what this is about?" Tenten asked.

Shino turned to look at Sasuke. "Was there anything in the letter from the hawk?"

"Just a time and place," Sasuke answered.

"Same," Shikamaru replied. He adjusted his fox like mask slightly. The mask was a dark red in color with black marks that gave the appearance of whiskers. "I know what I hope it's not."

The others knew exactly what the lazy ninja was talking about but chose not to comment on it. Before too long they arrived at the Hokage building where the meeting was held. The four shinobi leapt through the window and ended up in one of the hallways. They made their way through the corridors, walking past several other ninja a long the way. Anyone who was in the hall immediately got out of their way. It would have been a very bad idea to mess with one of the members of the ANBU. Sasuke led the way down into the basement where the meeting was to be held. When he opened the door he found that the others were already there. The others were crowded around a large table in the middle of the room.

"You guys were almost late," said one of the ANBU.

Sasuke looked up at the shinobi that had greeted them. The mask was that of one of the members of team _Tora._ The mask was black in color with dark red orange tiger stripes across the front. Shino leaned back against the wall with Sasuke and crossed his arms.

"My record is still better than yours Kiba," Shino replied.

**(A.N: Kiba is on team Tora. That was just for you Mana.)**

"Alright that's enough," Kakashi interrupted. The white haired ninja closed the door and walked in. "We have a serious situation here."

"What's going on?" Ino asked.

"I trust that you are all familiar with the various medical compounds and research plants that surround the village," Kakashi said. The others nodded and Kakashi nodded back. "We've recieved word from our scouts that the Awari research compound has been taken over by hostile forces."

"Who are they?!" Lee asked.

"We don't know for sure."

"Whoever they are, they aren't very smart. Taking over a facility that's so close to the village isn't a great move," Kiba replied.

"There's another problem though. The same scout reported that there is a squad coming to back them up. That's why it's been decided that this will be a joint mission. Neji and Ayane will take their squads out to intercept the enemy." The two captains nodded and their teams disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Sasuke and Shikamaru I want your teams to head to the facility."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "So what's the mission?"

Kakashi sighed. "Best case scenario: Eliminate the enemy forces and liberate the facility. If that becomes impossible you are to retrieve a certain file on the computers called _Cerebellum_. It is crucial that the file is not lost or does not fall into enemy hands."

"If this is a joint mission how are we supposed to know who the leader between me and Sasuke is?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'll let you all decide."

Shikamaru immediately pointed to Sasuke and somewhow he became the official leader of the mission. "Thanks," he muttered. "Okay team we have quite a ways to go to get to the facility. When we reach the outskirts we'll hold up and wait for the cover of night."

* * *

"Wait for the cover of night?! Good job Sasuke!" Naruto growled angrily. 

"Would you shut up Naruto," Ino hissed. "It's just a little rain."

What Ino had said was a slight understatement. The rain was falling in constant sheets, drenching the six ANBU. The two teams fell into position on a ridge just above the facility. They knew that they were facing two of the entrances but they couldn't see them from their position. Another problem they faced, was that they didn't know how many enemies were already in the facility. Shikamaru sighed and turned around pulling his mask to the side.

"Unfortunately, the rain combined with the darkness makes it all but impossible to see from here," he said. "Shino can you use your kikaichu to scout ahead?"

Shino shook his head. "They don't like the rain. We can't use them."

"Maybe not. But we need a scout," Sasuke replied. The Uchiha bit his thumb to produce a little blood and formed a few quick hand seals. _"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."_

Sasuke slammed his hand into the ground creating a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared away it revealed a large snake. The snake appeared to be a black mamba that had grown to the size of a normal full grown anaconda. It's dark green eyes shown brightly against the night sky and it's dark skin. The large black serpent slithered towards Sasuke and wound itself around the summoner until his head was up near Sasuke's. Most people would have freaked out as soon as a snake of that size surrounded them. Sasuke on the other hand didn't even flinch. The snake opened it's mouth revealing a large forked tongue.

"Why did you summon me?" It hissed at Sasuke. "I was nice and warm and now I'm in the rain!"

Ino jumped back in slight surprise and Tenten found herself staring at the snake in shock. "That thing can talk?!" Ino cried.

The snake turned his head towards Ino and it appeared to be smiling. "More intelligibly than you I bet." The snake turned towards Shino and nodded. "Shino. Who the hell are the rest of these people?"

"I'll introdce you later Kaidan," Sasuke said. He turned his head so that he was facing the large snake. "I summoned you because I need a reliable scout."

"What's the target?"

"The building right below us. Think you can handle it?"

"Am I covered in scales. Be right back."

"Don't you think that they are going to notice an abnormally large snake slithering around?" Tenten asked curiously. "Especially one that's not indigenous to the area?"

"She's a smart one," Kaidan replied.

The snake closed it's eyes in concentration before shrinking down to the size of a small boa. Without another word it slithered into the bushes at an incredible speed. Tenten turned to look at Sasuke with a shake of her head. "Can we trust him Sasuke?"

"He hasn't let me down yet." Sasuke motioned for the others to come closer. The squad gathered around awaiting their orders. "Tenten and Shino you are on me. We'll take the west side of the facility. Shikamaru, when Kaidan leads us to the entrance, you take your team and go east."

The ANBU only had to wait a few more minutes before Kaidan came back. The snake motioned with his head showing them that he wanted them to follow. Kaidan led them through the bushes towards the west side of the base. The shinobi continued under the cover of the trees until they came across a large stone wall that surrounded several large buildings. They hesitated going out in the open until Kaidan crawled out; then they followed after him. Laying out in the field were two dead guards not belonging to Konoha. In fact they looked like grass ninja.

"What happened to them?" Naruto asked.

"I killed them of course," Kaidan answered. "The way in is clear as well." He said before crawling through a crack in the wall.

"Alright let's move out," Sasuke ordered quietly.

Sasuke summoned the chakra into his feet and leapt over the wall, closely followed by the others. "Keep in constant contact in case something goes wrong."

Shikamaru nodded and placed his mask back over his face. As soon as they landed Shikamaru, Ino , and Naruto split up to go cover their assigned area. As soon as Sasuke started to walk forward Kaidan slithered around to the front to cut him off. The snake raised himself up so that he was eye level with Sasuke.

"I don't like being left in the dark," he hissed dangerously. "I need to know who I am working with."

* * *

Shikamaru crept into one of the buildings and motioned for Ino and Naruto to follow. The two blondes crept in behind him and they crouched behind the wall. Shikamaru twisted his body and looked around the corner. Two guards were standing down the hall on their left. The shadow user leaned back in and held up two fingers to indicate how may there were. Ino smiled behind her mask and pointed to herself. Shikamaru gave her the go ahead to carry out her plan. Ino made a wierd hand signal and leaned out from behind the wall. 

_"Shinranshin no Jutsu!" _She whispered.

Ino watched for a second until she felt her jutsu make contact. Her target slowly drew a kunai from his pouch much to the confusion of his fellow gaurd. There was a brief moment of terror from the target before he sunk his kunai deep into the throat of his friend. As soon as the first guard was down, Naruto and Shikamaru leapt out, each of them throwing a kunai. Their blades made direct hits, killing the other guard. Shikamaru turned and gave Ino a complimentary pat on the head for a job well done. The blond blushed, thankfully her mask kept it from being seen.

Shikamaru turned around when he heard footsteps coming from behind. "Someone's coming!" He whispered harshly.

"I'll get him!" Naruto replied.

The blond ninja turned around but was grabbed by Shikamaru. He opened the door to the side of them and slipped inside, pulling Naruto and Ino with him. The room was dark, providing just the right amount of cover for them. Shikamaru waited just on the edge of the darkness for the man to get closer. He heard the footsteps fall faster and knew that he must have seen his fallen comrades. As soon as he reached the door, Shikamaru reached out and pulled the man into the darkness. He pulled out a kunai and used it to silence the man once and for all. Shikamaru sighed and dropped the man to the ground. This mission might be harder than he had originally thought.

* * *

Sasuke pulled his kunai from the back of the guard's neck with a thick sloshing sound. Just a few feet away Tenten and Shino were retrieving their weapons from the guards they killed. Sasuke motioned for them and Kaidan to follow him. He opened up a door to the central building and slid in. In the room across from him were two more enemies sitting in chairs. Quietly he slipped into the hall and around the corner. The others followed suit, going unnoticed by the guards. Sasuke reached into his pouch and pulled out a rock. He threw the rock to the ground so that it made a loud clatter. 

"What was that?!" One of the guards asked.

"Who knows. We better go and check it out," said the second.

The two guards walked out into the hall with their kunai out. As soon as they were in sight that's when Shino and Sasuke struck. Sasuke tackled one of the guards from behind, bringing him to the ground. The second guard was about to strike at Sasuke when Shino cut across his path. He brought a kunai up, slicing the guards throat open. Sasuke wrapped his arms around his targets neck and after a brief struggle snapped the bones like a twig. Even though she had been on missions with the two men before she was always amazed at how well they worked together. The kunoichi kept watch while they dragged the bodies into the room they previously occupied. Tenten shut the door behind them and turned around.

Sasuke dropped his burden and nodded. "Okay. We need to split up if we want to get this job done." Shino, Tenten, and even Kaidan nodded. "Tenten, Kaidan, I need you two to get to the computer room and retrieve that file in case this goes awry."

Tenten looked slightly apprehensive about teaming with the serpent but didn't voice her concerns. "What are the two of you going to do."

Shino summoned his kikaichu to the surface of his skin. "We're on clean up duty."

* * *

After taking out several more guards and walking the winding halls for hours; team _Kitsune_ finally came across their destination. A small room with multiple computers on the far wall. Each of the monitors had flashing lights on them. Shikamaru motioned for the others to follow him. Ino and Naruto walked close behind their captain with weapons at the ready. If anyone tried to get the jump on them they wanted to be ready. Shikamaru walked up to the main monitor and stared blankly at the keyboard. 

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Naruto asked.

"Would you shut up! Computers don't really like me too much!" Shikamaru hissed.

"I thought that you were a genius," Ino chided.

Shikamaru growled and turned to Ino. "Would you like to give it a shot?" Ino didn't say anything but simply began to whistle softly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Naruto hit that button on the side of the monitor."

Naruto clicked the button and the monitor flashed to life. Immediately the word 'WARNING' flashed across the screen in large red letters. The letters were replaced by numbers counting down from fifteen. "Oh damn," Shikamaru murmured.

"Damn!" Naruto exclaimed . "Damn is a very bad word." All of a sudden flashing red lights appeared all around the room followed by an alarm. "I know that sound! That's a bad sound!"

"They've activated the self destruct!" Shikamaru replied, typing fiercly on the keyboard.

"What?! Can't you shut it off?!" Ino cried.

"Not without the passwords!" At that moment Shikamaru's brain clicked and his eyes widened. "It's a trap," he whispered. "They never wanted that file. They led us into a trap. We have to get outta here!"

A small yellow light appeared on the floor, surrounding them in a square. Shikamaru acted on instinct and pushed Ino out of the square. As soon as he did the light shot up and surrounded him and Naruto. Ino tore the mask away from her face and jumped to her feet. She ran up and placed a hand against the barrier.

"Are you guys alright?!" She asked.

"Yeah but we're going to have to get out of here," Shikamaru replied.

Naruto focused his power into his right hand and punched the barrier. The barrier didn't even flicker. "Nothing! I think it's made out of chakra!" He shouted.

The three of them struck out at the barrier again and again but nothing happened. The sound of derisive laughter caught their attention. Standing in the doorway was a tall shinobi with dark black hair. His matching eyes were as cold as the smirk on his face.

"Useless. This barrier is one with my chakra," he said. "The only way for them to get out is for me to die."

* * *

Sasuke silently brought down another sentry when he heard the static in his headset. He tapped the headset to clear it up and he heard Naruto's voice on the other end. _"Sasuke you guys have to get out of here! The whole thing was a trap! This place is going to blow! We-kssssssshhhhhhhhhhh!" _His voice was cut off in a crackle of static. 

"Shino did you get that?" Sasuke asked.

Shino turned around and nodded calmly. "I thought the lights were just the alarm."

"It will be easier to move if we split up," Sasuke said calmly. "You take that way. I'll go this way. We can meet up in the middlelike planned."

"What about Tenten?"

"...She'll be fine."

* * *

"Naruto?! What was that?! I didn't hear you, say again?!" Tenten yelled over the alarm. Nothing but static answered her back. "I wonder what this is all about." 

"I don't know but I think that we should get moving Tenten," Kaidan suggested.

Tenten nodded in agreement. It felt so odd to talk to a snake. "Right! The control room is just down this hall."

Tenten ran to the end of the hall and opened the door. She ran up to the main computer and found that it was already on. Her knowledge of computers was limited but she knew enough to copy the file. Tenten inserted a disk into the drive while Kaidan curled up next to the keyboard. She found the _Cerebellum_ file and began copying it to a disk. It didn't take long before the file was fully copied and she was able to remove the disk.

"Okay," she said. "Let's get out of here." She put the disk in her back pouch and turned around.

"Look out!"

Tenten jerked her head back just as a kunai scraped across the front of her mask. Three enemy shinobi entered from a door to her right that had gone unnoticed until now. There was a puff of smoke and Kaidan reappeared in his full size. The snake uncurled itself and struck out at one of the ninja. The man was to slow to dodge the snake and he found himself being constricted to death. The other two ninja ignored their comrade and leapt at Tenten with their kunai at the ready. Tenten ducked under the first ones strike and elbowed him in the back. She turned around with her own kunai in hand and used it to block the scond strike. She ducked low to the ground and kicked her attacker hard in the ribs, sending him to the ground. Things were beginning to get complicated.

* * *

Ino cried out in pain at the fist that landed squarely on her jaw. The force of the blow sent her flying back into barrier. The blond slumped to the ground and glanced back at the monitor. She had been fighting against the other shinobi for the better part of seven minutes with no success. Every once in a while Ino managed to get a shot in but it barely had an effect on her. Her opponent was stronger and faster than she was. None of her jutsus would help her in this situation either. Still, she had to keep trying if she wanted to free her captured teammates. Shikamaru and Naruto were still trapped and she wasn't going to leave them behind to get blown up. 

"Ino!" Shikamaru growled. He wanted more than anything to get out of the barrier and tear the man's throat open.

Naruto banged against the wall of the trap to no avail. "You bastard! Why don't you let me out and take me on you coward!" He shouted in anger.

"Don't be so eager," the man said. "Your time will come soon enough. I just thought you would enjoy watching your friend die first."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed in hate. _'This guy is crazy. He doesn't care what happens as long as he takes us down with him!'_

"Ino you have to get out of here!" Naruto shouted. Ino looked up at him as if he were insane.

"No!" She growled. "I won't leave you two behind to die!"

"He's right Ino!" Shikamaru shouted. "Please! I can't bare to see someone I care about die!"

Ino smiled despite the situation. It made her happy to hear Shikamaru say that he cares about her. "Sorry captain. I won't leave you."

"Aww! Isn't that sweet. Fine then. You can all die together!" The man roared charging directly at Ino.

"Try it!"

The last time that Shikamaru or Naruto saw Ino so fired up was when she fought Sakura at the Chunin Exams. Ino charged her chakra and waited for him to draw closer. He needed to be at just the right distance for this to work. Closer and closer. She waited for him. In fact she waited until he was barely a foot away before she struck. Ino whipped her head back so that the thick locks of hair swung wildly in the air. From the new angle the guys were able to see that chakra was surging through her hair. Ino swung her head forward just as her opponent was right on her. Blood sprayed her hair and face making her wince. The enemy shinobi's eyes wided in shock and glanced down.

_'She infused her hair with her chakra so that it became hard. Then she used it as a weapon. Ingenious...'_

The shinobi fell backwards releasing Ino's hair from his body. As his vision faded and disappeared so did the shield that surround Shikamaru and Naruto. "Alright Ino! You did it!" Naruto cried.

"That's my girl," Shikamaru replied. Ino turned around to reveal that her face and hair were soaked in a crimson sheen. She managed a small smiled before falling forward into Shikamaru's arms. Shikamaru picked her up and nodded to Naruto. "Let's get out of here Naruto."

Naruto smirked and created a shadow clone. "One shortcut coming up!" He said, as he and his clone started the rasengan.

* * *

Tenten was breathing heavily as she looked around the room. The entire room in front of her was covered in burn marks from the fire. Both of her enemies lay at her feet burnt to a crisp. She couldn't believe that she had managed to finally pull off that jutsu. Especially while she was under so much pressure. Tenten looked around and shook her head. 

"How come there was no one around to see that?!"

Unfortunately, the brunette was so wrapped up in her victory that she didn't notice the other enemies coming in fromt behind her. There were three of them. One carrying a stone club. Tenten felt a sharp blow to the back of her leg. She screamed in pain as she felt her knee give out from under her. Another blow to the side of the head made her world spin and she fell to the ground.

* * *

Sasuke was waiting outside at the spot where he told Shino to meet him. So far neither of his teammates had made it outside. Sasuke didn't know how much time he had left before the facility went up in flames. Just as he was about to decided what to do a cold voice cut into his thoughts.

"They are running out of time aren't they?" Sasuke's eyes opened wide. He turned around to see the object of his nine year search right before him. "Hello little brother."

* * *

**End Chapter**

**Well sorry it took so long but my computer did that nice crashing thing. It really doesn't like me. Anyways, it's so good to be back. I hope you all**** enjoyed this chapter. Send me a review and give me your thoughts. Will update ASAP! Peace!**


	7. Chapter 7: Rising Tensions

**One more chapter down and another coming right up. Thanks to everyone who has read this so far, especially to the reviewers making sure I stay in story. A writer is nothing without his readers. Let's get going shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I wish that I were rich. That should prove that I don't own this show! **

**Chapter 7: Rising Tensions**

A cool breeze filled the night air, rustling the leaves that refused to be taken by the rain. Sasuke stared up at the night sky, his view obscured by the clouds that the rain had left behind. On the branch next to him Kaidan uncoiled himself and seemed to be stretching his scales. Shino sat just a couple of feet away from him watching the lightning bugs fly around the dewy grass. Sasuke would have described the night as peaceful had they just not gone through such an ordeal. The facility had been completely obliterated by the self destruct fail safe. They weren't able to retrieve the _Cerebellum_ file. Not to mention the fact that Tenten was still unconcious from a hard blow to the head. Ino, being the only medic in the squad, was currently tending to the older girl. However, in her current condition she wasn't able to do much for her friend. The blond sighed and got to her feet. She ran a hand over her blood stained face and walked over to Sasuke.

"I got the bleeding to stop," she said. This garnered the attention of the _Karasu _members. "Unfortunately, I can't fix her knee until she wakes up because she might go into shock. So we're just going to have to wait."

"...Right," Sasuke answered.

"I'm going to go down to the lake and wash this blood off." Ino turned around and walked into the forest, towards the lake.

"Hey Sasuke," Shikamaru called. Shikamaru and Naruto were walking towards them with grim looks on their faces. "You guys are going to want to hear this. Neji just called in and guess what. The back up unit was just one guy using _Kage Bunshin._"

"This was a trap. And a good one at that," Shino muttered.

"They're targeting the ANBU squad," Sasuke said simply.

Shikamaru nodded. "That's what I've been thinking."

Naruto's head turned from side to side as if looking for someone. "Hey? Where did Ino go?"

"The lake."

"I'm going to go and fill her in," he said. Naruto walked towards the direction of the lake leaving them alone.

"I've just been thinking," Kaidan replied. The others looked at him expectantly. "Do you all think that this could be linked with the suicide mission a few weeks ago?"

"I never actually thought about that. I guess that it does make a little sense," Shikamaru said thoughtfully.

Sasuke ignored the conversation going on around him. His thoughts were somewhere else, on someone else.

**Flashback (A.N: Yes another one!)**

"Hello little brother."

Sasuke looked up at the figure standing above him on top of the buildings. The man was a little taller than him with long ebony hair that fanned out behind him. Cold onyx eyes stared down at Sasuke from a ghostly pale face. The man was dressed in a black robe with red clouds plastered all over the front of it. After all of these years there he was. Right in front of Sasuke's very own eyes. His hands tightened into fists but he didn't attack right away. Something about this situation didn't seem right.

"Itachi." Sasuke spit the name out like it were poison in his mouth. "What are you doing here?" When he didn't get an answer from his older brother he stiffened in anger. "Let me guess," he began calmly, "you came here for Naruto."

"...So the Kyuubi is here."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. "So you didn't come here for the nine tailed fox?" Whatever the reason was, Sasuke wasn't going to let him get away. He leapt to the top of the building and slipped into his fighting stance. 

Itachi merely closed his eyes and shook his head. "Your still missing the big picture aren't you little brother." Sasuke didn't say anything but he always kept his eyes on Itachi. "This should be about your team not you. They are still inside."

"...Why should that make a difference?" Sasuke asked. There was something that wasn't right about Itachi.

" Foolish little brother," he scoffed. "Strength comes from your team."

Sasuke gave a brief chuckle. "Now I can go after them because you aren't the real Itachi," he replied. Itachi looked severely confused at his little brother's words. "Itachi would never get caught like this."

Sasuke lowered his head so that he was looking down at the ground. He reached up with his left hand and gently pulled down the skin below his left eye. He looked back up, locking his gaze with Itachi's. The jutsu took effect almost immediately. Itachi doubled over, falling to his knees. He started shaking all over as though he were frightened for his life. Sasuke walked up to him and lifted him into the air with his right hand. His left hand glowed blue and the chidori roared to life.

"Strength comes from hatred."

Sasuke struck him in the chest with his chidori. There was a momentary cry of pain from Itachi before he became silent. Sasuke watched as the image of Itachi faded from his eyes and was replaced with that of a young grass ninja. Sasuke took the headband off of the ninja and threw his body to the ground in disgust. Something was definitely not right here.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke turned around and saw Shino standing in front of him. He looked around for a second then turned to Shino. "Tenten and Kaidan aren't with you?"

Shino shook his head. "They must still be inside. What do you want to do Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed and looked down at the stone beneath his feet. Whatever he decided they didn't have much time left. They were going to have to be quick about it.

**End Flashback**

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head and looked up. "You alright man?" Shikamaru asked. Sasuke nodded at him. "Do you think we should tell Hokage-sama about this?"

"I'm not sure," he said distractedly.

"Right. I'm going to go check up on Ino and Naruto."

"Guys, what happened?" Asked a tired voice.

"Sounds like your kohai is awake," he said walking off. Sasuke and Shino got to their feet and walked over to where Tenten was laying. Kaidan followed after them and stopped on her other side. Sasuke knelt down beside her. "Where..."

"Your safe," Sasuke replied.

"Lucky to," Kaidan said. "You took a really big blow to the head."

Tenten looked up at Sasuke and Shino with bleary eyes. "You saved me didn't you?" She asked them. Both of the men gave each other a quick glance. "No...you did. The last thing I remember is seeing you two standing over me."

Sasuke ignored her statement, choosing to brief her instead. "We failed the mission. Everyone is alright though."

Tenten tried to get up but a jolt of pain in her leg knocked her back down. She could feel that something wasn't quite right. "The facility?"

"The self destruct was activated," Shino replied. "We think it was a trap for us."

Tenten smirked against the pain that she was feeling. "We got one thing out of it." She reached into her back pouch and pulled out a small square disk with a silver triangle in the middle. "The _Cerebellum _project."

Shino glanced at it with shaded eyes. Sasuke sighed, she had really bailed them out. "Not bad," he admitted to the girl.

"If you don't need me anymore I'll be on my way." Kaidan hissed one last time and Sasuke nodded. Then the snake disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tenten's smirk grew even wider. "Wait until we get back to the village. I'll really show you something."

Naruto pushed the last couple of branches out of his way so that the lake came into view. Ino was sitting on the edge of the water washing her face off. Naruto walked out of the bushes and on to the bank. Ino turned her her head and gave her teammate a small smile. Naruto spied a log on the ground and went over to sit on it. There was a moment of silence which was rare for the two blonds. Surprisingly it would be Ino that broke the silence first.

"What are you doing down here Naruto?" Ino asked curiously.

Naruto jumped slightly and turned to face her. "I was just coming to see if you were okay?" He said truthfully.

Ino turned around and gave him a faint smile. "Just a little sore. And really sticky." The kunoichi pointed to her hair.

"Sorry about that." Naruto sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky. He never had been good at moments like this. He shifted his mask so that it was on the side of his head. "Sorry I didn't have more faith in you."

The words left his mouth quickly but Ino was still able to discern them. She had never heard him apologize before. "Naruto you don't need to apologize. It's no big deal."

Naruto shook his head. "I hate to admit when I need help. And I should have more faith in my teammates. So...thank you for bailing me out."

Ino's smile brightened. "You're my teammate." The smile instantly turned into a smirk when she realized one thing. She owned him now. "You wanna pay me back?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Start a fire for me."

"So you think that you can order me around just because you are pretty?" Naruto asked in a slightly joking tone of voice.

Ino blushed and shook her head. _'Pretty? I'm covered in blood for crying out loud. Then again he does have a crush on Sakura so he can't really know what pretty is.'_ With some concentration she managed to wipe the blush from her face. "No. I think I can order you around because I saved your life."

"Well in that case!" Naruto jumped up and started to pull equipment from his pouch. "Shouldn't be too hard with everything being wet and all!"

Ino chuckled and went back to washing her hair. When Shikamaru made it down to the lakeside he was treated to the amusing sight of Naruto trying to start a fire. "What are you doing?" He asked Naruto.

"Trying to start a fire for the queen over there." He said pointing at Ino. Ino stuck her tongue out at him and continued washing her hair. Naruto returned the gesture. "What are you doing down here?"

"Came to check up on you guys. Also Tenten is awake."

"Already?" Ino asked in surprise. "I should go check on her. The fire will have to wait till later Naruto." Ino leapt to her feet and hurried past him.

"Aww man! I just saw a spark! Really!"

"Sure. Come on baka," Shikamaru said. His tone of voice made him sound like he was calling a dog.

Naruto grumbled and followed after his leader. When they reached the clearing they saw Ino checking Tenten's leg. "We can't move her until we fix her leg," Ino said.

"So why don't you go ahead and do it?" Naruto asked.

"Because it's going to be extremely painful as it is and I don't want to hurt her anymore than I have to," Ino explained.

"Then I'll do it," Sasuke replied.

"H-hey! It is my leg. Don't I get a say in this!"

Sasuke knelt down next to her and pulled a cloth out of his pouch. "Bite down on this."

Tenten sighed but she took the cloth away from him anyways. She bit down on the cloth as hard as she could. Shino walked up behind her and held her arms to make sure that she didn't move too much. Sasuke tentatively felt around the injured ligement to find the best way of putting it back in place. He placed one hand over her lower leg and the other over her upper thigh. Counting to three, more for Tenten's benefit, he yanked both hands in different directions. The bone popped back into place with a thick pop. Tenten let out a muffled groan of pain and gripped Shino's arm as hard as she could. After a minute or so she was able to calm down and Sasuke stood back up. He showed no concern for his teammate and didn't even bother to ask if she was okay.

"Wrap her up," he said to Ino. "We have to get back to the village and give our report."

* * *

"Are you certain?"

Sasuke stood in the Hokage's office with his fellow ANBU captains giving their mission reports. Shikamaru was standing next to him, Neji was in the middle and Ayane was on the far end. Ayane was the leader of team _Tora. _She was about the same height as Tenten with long teal colored hair and cerulean eyes. Sasuke didn't no much about the woman except that she used to be a kunoichi from Amegakure. He did however respect the skills that she posessed. As always Sasuke remained silent when their was more than one captai present for the reports.

"Pretty certain," Shikamaru replied. "What are the odds that the self destruct would be active as soon as we got there."

"Let's not forget our group of shadow clones," Neji replied. He brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. "They used them so their trap wouldn't be too obvious."

Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade who appeared to be deep in thought. "And are we sure that they were Grass ninja?" He asked.

"Pretty sure," Ayane replied. "They appeared to be wearing the headband and Sasuke-san even brought one back."

Tsunade turned to look at Sasuke. Since the beginning of the meeting she had noticed that something was wrong with the Uchiha. She was sure that Jiraiya noticed it as well. "What do you think Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.

Sasuke looked up into the big almond colored eyes of the hokage. Until now his thoughts had been elsewhere and as usual he stayed silent. "They weren't from the grass village," he stated simply.

Neji rolled his eyes. "We have the headbands Uchiha," he said irritably. "What are we supposed to do? Take your word on it."

"Neji." Tsunade said in a warning tone. "Continue Sasuke."

"I've traveled to many regions. Their accents didn't match up with the grass region."

"Say your right," Jiraiya replied. "Then we have enemies masquerading as Grass ninja, targeting our ANBU squads." He scratched the back of his head. "Who could it be?"

"I have no idea," Tsunade groaned. She leaned back in her chair and placed a hand on her forehead. "Is there anything else? Anything at all?" Everyone shook their heads including Sasuke. He didn't see the point in tell the hokage about a fake Itachi. "Then I've reched a descision. It appears that someone is targeting ANBU members. So until further evidence is collected I'm disbanding the ANBU unit."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. This was the first time in over two decades that the ANBU had been disbanded. "But you-you can't do that," Ayane protested weakly. "You'll be putting us out of a job."

"As hokage I have to do what's best for the people and shinobi of Konoha," Tsunade argued back. "Besides you will still be able to carry on as Konoha's police force. You will just recieve no missions for awhile. Now if there's nothing else...you are dismissed."

Sasuke stood on the old dock behind his house, the wind blowing through his hair and coat. He took another drag on the almost dead cigarette. The mission had been weighing heavily on his mind all night. Who was the man that masqueraded as Itachi? Whoever he was he had done his homework rather well. Was it possible that Itachi or someone else in the Akatsuki helped him? Unlikely since the Akatsuki stuck mostly to themselves. Perhaps it was just someone that did their homework on him. Some of the clouds disappeared revealing the silver moon and stars. Sasuke put the cigarette out on his hand and dropped it in his pocket to throw away later.

"You didn't come just to watch me?"

"...How did you know that I was here?"

Sasuke didn't pay the question any mind. "What are you doing here?"

Tenten walked out on to the dock glancing nervously at the water for a second. This didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke. She seemed to do that whenever she stepped foot out on the dock. "I wanted to show you something."

"It couldn't wait."

"No." Sasuke didn't say anything but merely stepped to the side. Tenten took the place he had just occupied and sighed softly. Her hands formed some quick seals and she inhaled deeply. _'Gokakkyu no Jutsu!'_

Tenten placed her fingers around her mouth just like Sasuke showed her. A gigantic ball of fire lit up the dark night sky. It shot out over the water stopping some distance away. The fire reflected in Sasuke's dark eyes for a second before disappearing. Tenten turned towards her sensei with an expectant smile on her face. To her disappointment though Sasuke merely turned his back on her and walked towards the house. The smile on Tenten's face instantly became replaced by a deep frown. The kunoichi had never been so disappointed in her entire life. What was she doing wrong? The size and shape should have been good enough! Yet, Sasuke didn't seem impressed one bit by her performance of the jutsu. All she wanted was some recognition, at the very least a quick pat on the back. Maybe she really didn't have what it takes to be stronger.

"Not bad." Tenten looked up and saw that Sasuke had stopped at the edge of the dock. "You really are my student now."

Tenten beamed proudly and watched him walk away. So there was some hope for her after all.

Sasuke woke up the next morning feeling as though he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. On top of that Kakashi had come by to see him. Apparently, that girl that survived his attack during the suicide mission had regained conciousness. He had to make his way over to the hospital to take part in some questioning. First, he had to meet Shino and Tenten at the training grounds. The three of them were all going to train together today. Unfortunately Shino wasn't at the training grounds when he got there. Perhaps more unfortunately was that Tenten was there and she wasn't alone. Standing alongside her was Neji. Seeing the Hyuga first thing in the morning was something that he definitley did not need. At least Sasuke had a reason for not liking the Hyuga prodigy. He had no idea what Neji had against him.

"So the ANBU has been disbanded!" Tenten cried in shock.

Neji nodded. "Tsunade-sama thinks it to dangerous for us," he said coolly. "The Uchiha didn't tell you?"

"I heard it from Naruto last night. I was just hoping that he was being an idiot."

"Hn." 

Tenten turned around to face the source of the grunt. "Oh, good morning Sasuke," she said trying to be polite.

Sasuke merely gave her nod to acknowledge her existence. "If you don't mind we have some training to do." Sasuke said, adressing Neji.

Neji turned to look at Sasuke with a glare in his silver eyes. "I would start with lessons on how not to fail a mission."

"What would a member of the Hyuga side branch know about success?" Sasuke asked in a low tone.

Neji pushed his way past Tenten and walked over so that his face was mere inches from Sasuke. "Watch your mouth traitor. Before I bury with the rest of the Uchiha."

Neji's voice was so low that Tenten couldn't hear what he said. Sasuke on the other hand heard it loud and clear. Through some miracle he was able to keep his face neutral. His sharingan whirred to life and the urge to release his cursed seal burned within him. Sensing the tension between her friend and sensei Tenten jumped into action. She placed herself between them and grabbed Sasuke's arm.

"Sorry Neji but we have to go and train. I'll see you later okay."

Neji didn't say anything. He merely nodded at the brunette before turning around and walking away. Sasuke turned to her for a brief second, crimson eyes flashing dangerously. Tenten felt a chill run down her spine and all the warmth left her. She dropped Sasuke's arm and muttered a quick apology. Sasuke turned around his eyes becoming their normal onyx once again. His eyes narrowed on Neji's retreating form for just a second. Tenten sighed, knowing that todays training would be long.

After waiting a half hour for Shino to show up the duo began their training. Sasuke wondered briefly about Shino's tardiness. The Aburame heir was never late to a training session. They wouldn't be able to get real serious because Tenten's leg was still sore from last night. At first they began lightly with Tenten once again performing the _Gokakkyu no Jutsu_. Sasuke had to make sure that it wasn't just a one time thing. After that Sasuke created some shadow clones for her to use as target practice. She managed to do well enough in this area that Sasuke decided to move on. He tought her a couple more simple jutsus including: _Shinju Zanshi _and_ Sennen Goroshi._ Having come from a team consisting primarily of taijutsu users she picked up the _Sennen Goroshi _quite easily. The _Shinju Zanshi no Jutsu _was another matter all together. During the resurfacing she had gotten stuck at the waist on the first few tries. The next few she made it all of the way out but her performance at the end was shaky. She needed practice on that one.

When they were done with that portion of the training Sasuke decided to test her knowledge of the different hand seals required for jutsu. That's what the two of them were currently doing. Sasuke would perform a hand seal and Tenten would copy him. Every minute or so he would pick up the pace and then slow back down. This challenged her to keep up with him. It was during one of the slow downs that Tenten asked a question that plagued her mind since they started training.

"What did Neji say to you earlier?" She asked innocently.

Sasuke looked up at Tenten. This was one of the few times that Tenten spoke to him casually during training. She usually only talked to him so that he could critque her techniques or give hints. The question had come innocently enough but he sensed the curiousness in her voice.

"Your boyfriend seems to hate me." Tenten blushed when Sasuke said that. "Any reason why?"

"...He thinks that you are a traitor and can't be trusted," she answered lightly. 

"Hn. And you?" Tenten looked until Sasuke clarified. "What do you think? If you think."

"What do you care?" Tenten asked bitterly. 

"Curious."

Tenten nodded, never taking her eyes off of Sasuke's hands. "I think that it bothers you when people say those things. Partlly because you still care about this village. Partly because you know they are right and still wish that you hadn't left Orochimaru."

Sasuke picked up the pace and so did Tenten. "I have no lost love for Orochimaru. Don't get me wrong. Konoha means absolutely nothing to me. And the people in it even less."

"This is your home. I don't believe that."

'_I see. So she thinks that she knows me. Or she's trying to undertsand me. I must have given her the wrong impression about our relationship.' _Sasuke didn't have to explain himself to Tenten but her assumptions were very annoying. "I count the people I would give one thought about on my left hand," he said coldly.

"I guess Neji was right then!" Tenten growled. "You just used your reputation and your family's name to get back in the village."

In one blinding fast motion Sasuke was behind Tenten with a kunai in his hand. Tenten was still in the middle of forming the seal with her eyes wide open. The black ties from her hair floated on the wind, sliced in half. Her brunette hair fell from their buns and swayed gently in the breeze. Sasuke put his kunai away and pulled his own hair back.

"Take this as your warning."

Tenten didn't turn around, she couldn't. If he had wanted to Sasuke could have killed her on the spot. Only when the soft fall of his footsteps disappeared completely did she turn around. Of course he had already been on edge because of Neji but it was something she said that hit a nerve. She sighed and dropped down in the grass. There were people that got on her nerves for being stubborn. Then there were people like Sasuke that she had a hard time understanding at all.

* * *

"Is that her?"

Kakashi turned to look at Sasuke with a questioning eye. Not many people had even a sliver of a chance at reading Sasuke. Kakashi on the other hand could tell that something was wrong. Now was not the time to deal with it though. The two of them were standing in the hallway of the hospital looking into one of the rooms. Kurenai was sitting on the bed talking to a younger girl. She had long black hair and dark blue eyes. Sasuke recognized her almost instantly. 

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. You recognize her?"

A lot of the details from that mission were fuzzy but for some reason this girl was coming in clearly. "She's one of the guards that put the chakra dampeners on me."

"Let's go and get this over with then." Kakashi knocked on the door and poked his head in. "Mind if we come in?"

Kurenai looked up at Kakashi and smiled. "Of course. I was just talking with Sayuri here."

Sayuri looked up and smiled shyly at Kakashi. "Kurenai was telling me that you saved my life. Thank you." She bowed her head slightly. When she looked back up though she immediately scrambled backwards in fear. "Y-y-you!" She cried pointing at Sasuke.

"Safe to say she remembers you as well," Kakashi said dryly.

Before Kurenai could say something Sayuri reached over and stole one of her kunai. The girl rolled out of bed and pointed the kunai at Sasuke. Her body was so shaky though that she couldn't remain standing for long. Kurenai moved to help her but she pointed the kunai at her.

"Stay away from me all of you!" She screeched. Her fearful blue eyes turned back to look at Sasuke. "I haven't forgotten what you did to my friends Aizawa! You...demon!"

"Sayuri please! You have to calm down before you agitate your wounds," Kurenai pleaded.

Kakashi nodded. "If we were going to hurt you we would have done it already." He held a hand out to her which after a moments debate she begrudgingly accepted.

Sayuri let kakashi help her into the bed and even relinquished her kunai. Her eyes never left Sasuke. She was like the fearful rabbit watching the deadly snake. "So you Aizawa, you work for this village."

"Actually his name is Uchiha sasuke," Kurenai corrected.

Sayuri's blue eyes opened wide and turned to Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke! I thought that you were with Orochimaru!"

"..." Sasuke didn't say anythin at all to the girl's inquiry.

"Things change," Kakashi said. "Kurenai convinced me to bring you back to the village. Now you have two choices. You can try to escape and go back to your village and most likely die in the attempt. Or the hokage has given me permission to make you a special offer." He reached in his pouch and pulled out a leaf headband. "Forget your old lfe and become a ninja of Konoha. Either way we can't risk you telling you village we were involved in the assassination." He placed the headband on the bed and stood up. "You have two days to decide. Just know you are being watched."

Kakashi and Sasuke turned around and left the room. "What do you think?" Sasuke asked.

"For her sake I hope that she takes the offer," Kakashi replied. Sasuke turned to leave and Kakashi called out to him. "Try to see where she's coming from."

Sasuke didn't say anything. How did Kakashi always seem to know what was going on? The young Uchiha shook his head and walked away.

* * *

Shino threw back the shot of whiskey and placed his glass down on the table. He was sitting at a table in a secluded corner of the _Crimson Heaven _bar room. At first he just stopped by around lunch time for a quick drink but then he didn't feel like leaving.It was starting to get dark out now. Since hearing that the ANBU was going to be disbanded last night he slipped into a slight depression. Last time that he checked, being out of a job was not a good thing. Sure the hokage let them carry on as the police force of Konoha. Big deal that was. Nothing ever happened around the village and the pay they recieved for that job wasn't much to live off of. Besides the lack of action that was what would be the worst aspect of this suspension.

How would he pay the rent for his apartment? True, he did have money saved up but there was no telling how long the unit would be suspended. He supposed that when he did run out of money he could always go back home. Shino shook his head. That wasn't even an option. He doubted that his father would mind one bit if he did move back in. In fact his dad told him that he could always come home, no matter what. But Shino didn't want to rely on his dad like that. The men in his family had an undeniable stubborn pride that didn't fall easily. No he would find some other way before he did that.

"Your looking down. Can I get you another bottle?"

Shino looked up to see a young girl with dark green hair looking down at him. If he stood up the top of her head would maybe be level with his eyes. Speaking of which, she had the deepest amber colored eyes he had ever seen. Her hair and eyes were complimented by a beautiful face, smooth as porcelain. The girl had a slightly muscular build that was still incredibly feminine. Most other girls would have killed for her curves. Her name was Otoshi Hikari, a kunoichi that graduated the academy a year ahead of him. She worked part-time at the bar to help supplement her income. Shino knew her as a friendly girl with the habit of being flirtatious.

"No you don't," Jin said in his deep voice. "You've had too much already Shino."

Normally Shino would have a rebuttal when someone told him he was reaching his limits. But if Jin said that he had too much then he believed him. The bartender was an expert at sensing when people were in danger of crossing their alcohol limit.

Hikari shrugged sympathetically. "Orders of the boss." She leaned down so that she was closer to Shino's face. "If you're good then maybe I'll bring you something special."

Hikari winked at the bug nin before making her way over to one of the other tables. The door to the bar opened and in walked Kiba, Hinata and Akamaru. Shino lowered his head not wanting to be seen. That's why he came to the bar so that he wouldn't have to talk to anyone.

"Hey Hinata!"

Hinata jumped and looked up at Jin. She didn't come here to drink but she would sometimes acompany the guys when they came. "Y-yes!"

"You can't bring that mutt in here."

"B-but Akamaru won't c-c-cause any trouble."

"I wasn't talking about Akamaru."

A vein appeared in Kiba's forehead and he growled. "Watch what you say old man before you lose an eye." Jin laughed loud and hard annoying him even further. He spotted Shino out the corner of his eye and smirked. "Hey Shino!"

Shino sighed. "Dammit," he muttered.

"We've been looking all over for you." 

When Hinata got to the table her nose wrinkled. It didn't take Kiba's nose to smell the liqour on him. Just how long had he been there anyway? Kiba sat at the table and motioned to the bottle in front of him. Shino nodded and then offered to Hinata who politely declined the offer. Akamaru sat on the floor next to Hinata's chair and nudged her leg with his head. Shino watched her gently pet the dog for a second before turning back to Kiba.

"So what did you want with me?" He asked numbly. The alchohol was finally starting to take it's toll on him.

"Well Hinata and I had this great idea. Actually, Hinata, it was more your idea than mine. Why don't you tell him?"

Hinata gave her friend a nervous nod. She really hoped that Shino would like her idea. "T-two days from now will b-be five years s-s-since we became a team. We th-thought that it would be nice to, um, do something special."

Shino looked blankly at Hinata then back to Kiba's grinning face. He hated to disappoint Hinata but he also would have hated to lie to her. "You guys realize we aren't a team anymore."

"Technicality," Kiba replied airily. "So what do you say! Isn't it a great idea!" Kiba was getting excited and when that happened it was hard for him to remain quiet.

Shino didn't show any sign that he was annoyed with them. He simply downed his last glass and said, "I think that is the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

Kiba's excitement faded almost instantly. Hinata looked crushed by her friends cold statement. She could have sworn that Shino would at least think about it. Even Akamaru hung his head in disappointment, his ears drooping slightly. Shino hated to see the look of disappointment that crossed over Hinata's face. For once though, he found himself thinking more about his own situation than that of others. That sounded selfish to him but was it really so wrong? Apparently Kiba thought so. He jumped up and banged his fists down on the table, making Hinata jump slightly.

"What is wrong with you?" He growled. "First you practically abandon us for Sasuke. Now that we want to hang out with us you just shut us down! Just like that!"

Shino reached into his pocket and pulled out some money, leaving Hikari a generous tip. For now he would just let the drinks be charged to the tab that Sasuke, Shikamaru and himself had running. He pulled his collar back up and pulled the hood back over his head. Shino got up from the table and walked to the door. It was apparent to him that more than one person was staring at them after Kiba's outburst. He would ignore them though and just leave before things got too out of hand.

"W-wait Sh-Shino!" Hinata called. Shino stopped just in front of the door but didn't turn around. He couldn't bear to see the hurt look that Hinata most likely had in er eyes. It was odd but he never could stomach that look when it was on her face.

"Forget Hinata," Kiba growled. "It's just the same old thing. Shino only cares about Shino."

Shino's eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses. How could Kiba say that about him. Just because they drifted apart somewhat, that didn't mean that he didn't care about them anymore. Then again Kiba had always thought that way about him. Maybe he didn't show it but he did care about his friends. Still, if Kiba wanted it that way then so be it. Without turning around Shino raised a hand in the air.

"You are right. Sometimes that's all we can do. See ya."

With that Shino lowered his hand and left the bar. Hinata couldn't take her eyes off of the doorway, even after he had gone. Tears were burning at the edges of her eyes. That wasn't Shino that had just said those things. It had to be someone else talking. Something had to be bothering the young Aburame. A new mission filled Hinata's mind. For once her thoughts drifted away from a certain blond shinobi. Now her new mission: Help Shino.

* * *

Sasuke checked his watch for what must have been the tenth time that day. Again Shino failed to show up for practice. Sasuke quickly tired of this attitude from his friend and co-captain. It was bad for the team and bad for Shino in general. Tenten sat quietly on a stump, packing up her things. After what happened yesterday things between her and Sasuke were rather tense. In fact he didn't even bother to talk to her the whole time. Although some of that could be due to the fact that he was probably worried about Shino. Not that the stubborn ass would ever admit to it. Though after a long talk that she had with Gai yesterday, she realized that she may have been the one that was wrong. As much as she hated to admit it she would have to apologize.

"Hey Sasuke?" She asked quietly.

"Hn?" Sasuke acknowledged in his usual manner.

"Um, about yesterday, I'm really sorry," she replied. It was true to. After realizing the things that she said she felt truly bad. "I had no right to say those things to you. Especially the comments I made about your family. So I'm sorry."

Sasuke hadn't been expecting an apology from her. Not that he knew much about her, but Tenten didn't seem the type of person to apologize first. The thought of ignoring her entered his mind. However his dad always said: 'A real man knows when to take an apology'. Then the advice that Kakashi had given him yesterday entered his mind. 

"...Forget it."

Tenten smiled, happy that he had accepted the apology. It was a pleasant surprise. She never would have expected Sasuke to forgive comments about his family like that. What came next was an even bigger surprise.

"Shino and I are supposed to go to the barbecue place for lunch," he said simply. "You want to come?" He decided to take Kakashi's advice.

Tenten looked around the field trying to see who he was talking to. When she couldn't find anyone she pointed to herself. Sasuke nodded in a way that clearly said, 'Are you slow or something?' Trying to save some dignity Tenten made a show of packing her things.

"Well you never asked me along before," she grumbled.

"You never showed any interest before," Sasuke quipped back.

Tenten didn't have a come back for that one. She never had tried to get to know either of her teammates before. "That would be great. Thanks."

After getting all of her equipment together Sasuke told her to throw it in the house. Tenten didn't see a problem with it and was glad that she wouldn't have to carry the huge bag of weapons. Together the two of them walked down the streets of Konoha. The trip to the barbecue place was short and uneventful. They reached the returaunt and were about to go in when Sasuke stopped. He sensed something with a large power source coming towards him at a high speed. He shoved Tenten to the side just as he was tackled to the ground.

Tenten looked up and saw that a large wolf had leapt on top of Sasuke. It's fur was a reddish brown and it had wierd black symbols all over it's body. Tenten quickly drew her kunai to help fend off the animal. That's when she got her third surprise of the day. The wolf wasn't actually attacking Sasuke. No, it was licking his face and making what appeared to be whimpering noises. People that had first been screaming at the sight of the wolf were now watching on with confused looks. Eventually Sasuke managed to push the wolf's head away from his face and save himself from being drenched in saliva. Despite the wolf being large and menacing looking Tenten foud it kind of cute. Sasuke got up on one knee and placed his hand on the head of the wolf. He started to pet the larger than normal wolf. Did he know the creature?

Sasuke looked the wolf dead in it's yellow eyes. The wolf panted, baring long sharp teetch. "What are you doing here?" He asked as though talking to a human. The wolf let out a guttural growl. "We?" He asked curiously.

"What? You didn't think that I would let him come all of this way on his own did you?"

Tenten turned around her eyes widening at who was standing there. Sasuke's eyes closed and a serene look came over his face. That was a voice he hadn't heard in almost two years. "Hello...Temari."

* * *

**End Chapter **

**Sorry to leave you all here but it's almost six in the morning and I am exhausted. As usual I would appreciate knowing what you guys thought. I will update ASAP. Take it easy and see you all soon. Peace!**


	8. Chapter 8: In the Years Between

**Thank you everybody for reading, reviewing and being patient. Here is your reward plus some translation notes that I once again forgot in the last chapter.**

**Gokakkyu no Jutsu-Fireball Jutsu**

**Sennen Goroshi-Thousand Years of Death**

**Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu-Headhunter Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: Whoever thinks I own Naruto raise your hand.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: In The Years Between**

Hinata walked down the streets of Konoha in the early morning mist. All around her the villagers were getting their daily shopping done or setting up for the day. She had even come across some of her family members from the Hyuga side branch. Hinata waved to them and in turn they gave a bow of respect. Hinata hated it when they would bow down to her. It always made her feel like she was being put on a pedestal of some sort. Some of her fellow ninja passed her by and wished her a good morning before heading off to training. Hinata had a different destination in mind though. She was making her way to the Aburame compound to see if Shino was there. She had already been to his apartment but there was no answer. The compound was in her sight just off to the left.

Hinata stepped through the front gate of the compound and smiled brightly. Even though she had only been here a few times she loved the place. The Aburame's were very big on nature and their land reflected that. Lush green grasses and bushes filled the front yard. Several small trees as well as various types of flowers grew on the land. But that wasn't what Hinata loved the most about coming to the Aburame compound. When she got half way down the walk, the mini forest sprung to life. Insects of all shapes, sizes, and types came out to greet her. They buzzed around in the air as if checking out the new arrival. There were especially many types of butterflies. They fluttered about, coming to land on all over Hinata. The insects tickled slightly making Hinata giggle in response. The Hyuga heiress gently shook the beautiful creatures off so as not to hurt them. When she was done she made her way to the front door, being careful not to step on any of the insects.

Hinata hesitated at the front door for a second before knocking gently. There were some footsteps inside before the door swung open. It was none other than Aburame Shibi, the head of the entire Aburame clan. If you could imagine a taller Shino with a light beard then you had Shibi. The only real difference being some shorter hair and a dark red trench coat with a high collar. Hinata blushed nervously and immediately bowed to the head of the house.

"G-good morning Shibi-sama," she stuttered.

Shibi sighed slightly and shook his head. "Hinata, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Shibi?" He asked good naturedly. His voice was a lot like Shino's to. Raspy but at the same time very comforting in an odd way.

Hinata nodded, blushing even more. "Sorry t-to disturb you. But I w-was wondering if Shino, um, was h-here?"

"Shino? Yes he's here. I trust that you have come to check up on him?"

Hinata nodded. "I kn-know he wasn't feeling well. I wanted t-to see if he was-was okay."

"Awww. That's so sweet of you to come and check up on your boyfriend."

Hinata's face turned as red as a tomato. "Wha?! N-n-n-no we aren't, we..."

"Hang on, I'll go get him for you."

Hinata watched helplessly as Shibi went back inside and closed the door behind him. She coud hear Shibi calling his son's name over and over again. Then there was a shout, followed by some rustling and a loud thump. A groan and a few choice words from Shino. Hinata waited another second longer before the door opened. Shino stood in the door frame looking less than well. He had one hand placed firmly on his temple, his hair was a mess and he looked a pale even for him. He was dressed only in a pair of white pants and a black sleevless shirt. The shirt clung to his well toned chest and revealed his lean muscular arms. Hinata blushed and looked away, barely taking notice of the deep scars on his upper arms. This was one of the very few times she saw him without his high collared shirt.

"Hinata?" He asked in confusion. "Why are you here?"

Hinata was afraid that if she looked at him again too much blood would rush to her head and she might pass out. "I-I wanted to see, how you were f-feeling." Hinata said, looking down at her feet.

"...Oh. Fine. Why?" He asked groggily.

"You seemed, well, upset last night."

Shino thought about what had happened last night. Because of the alchohol everything was a little fuzzy. He remembered Kiba yelling at him and Hinata getting really upset. When he woke up he found that he had been sleeping on his dad's couch. Suddenly the night came rushing back to him which was a very bad thing. Hangovers were not the best stage in drinking to begin with. When you were thinking a lot they were damn near unforgiving.

Hinata stared nervously at Shino. He hadn't said anything for the past few minutes She wonderd if he even remembered what happened last night. A grunt of pain caught her attention.

"Shino?" Shino waved a hand to dismiss her worry. "O-okay. I'm...I'm glad you're alright. I should be getting back."

"Wait Hinata." Shino walked back inside, much to Hinata's confusion. When he came back out he was buttoning up his high collared shirt. He was wearing shoes and he had his green jacket on. "I'll walk you home."

"Oh! Y-you don't have to!" She said quickly.

"I know."

Hinata nodded and gave him a grateful smile. It was always nice to have someone to walk with. Shino shut the door and the two of them continued on down the walk. The duo had been walking for only a few minutes, but every minute or so Hinata would turn to look at her friend. Then she would turn away just as quickly out of shyness. This did not go unnoticed by Shino who pretended to ignore the glances. There wasn't a time when Shino could remember it being easy for him to apologize to someone. He was going to have to give it a shot though.

"Hinata?" Hinata jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. It wasn't like Shino to start small talk. "I wanted to...oh no," he muttered.

Hinata noticed that he was staring at someone behind her. When she turned around she saw an elderly woman walking down the street with large bags of groceries. She was rather short and her wizened face held it's share of wrinkles. Perhaps the oddest thing about the old woman was that she was wearing a pair of sunglasses, similar to Shino's. Shino gave Hinata a pat on the shoulder and walked over to the old woman. Hinata followed close behind, curious as to what was going on.

"Grandmother," Shino called. The old woman looked up and a grin split across her face. "You know you aren't supposed to carry heavy things in your condition," Shino admonished.

"And what would that condition be?" She asked in a slightly crackly voice.

"Old," Shino answered simply.

Hinata was shocked that Shino would talk to an elder that way. The grandmother smiled once again. "Despite my age I can still teach you a lesson boy," she warned.

"Let me take those bags for you. I'll walk you home." He turned to Hinata with four of the bags in his hand. "You don't mind?"

"Of course not," Hinata answered brightly. Perhaps the greatset thing about Shino was his underlying kindness. "L-let me get those last bags for you Kariko-san."

Kariko smiled gratefully at Hinata. "Aren't you a kind girl? Pretty to." Hinata accepted the bags from her with a blush. Once the bags were in her hands she couldn't believe that this little old lady was able to carry all of those bags on her own. "Who is your pretty young friend Shino?" She asked as they started walking.

"Grandmother, you know Hinata," Shino rolled his eyes.

Kariko took a second look at Hinata and her mouth opened wide. "Little Hinata-chan?" She questioned in disbelief. "I haven't seen you in ages. My, you have grown into a beautiful young lady. Isn't she beautiful Shino?"

"Yes," Shino answered. He didn't even bother looking at Hinata. He knew that she was beautiful all of the way through.

Hinata blushed profusely. Kiba had told her that she was pretty before but no one ever called her beautiful. "Arigatou," she murmured quietly.

"Are you still a kunoichi?" Kariko asked curiously.

Hinata nodded, her hair falling in front of her face. It was something that she did whenever she was blushing. "Y-yes. I've st-started trainging to b-be a medical ninja."

"Ah, good skill to have! Smart and beautiful." She glanced sideways at Shino and then turned to Hinata. "You want to marry my grandson?!"

Hinata's face burned a bright magenta. Almost immediately she lost her footing and fell forwards. Shino dropped the groceries from his left hand. He spun around, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her so that her back was flush angainst his front. If Hinata had been blushing before it was nothing compared to right now.She had never been so close to Shino before, except for the time that Kiba grabbed them both in a group hug. She could feel his strong arm around her and she felt...safe. In a way that she had never felt before. Kariko smirked, a plan forming in her mind.

"Are you okay?" Shino asked.

Hinata gave a small half nod. Her face still red as a beat. "S-sorry."

Shino gave a shake of his head. "My grandmother thinks that if I don't get married soon then I won't find anyone."

"I-I'm sure y-you will."

Shino smiled slightly behind the collar of his shirt. After picking up the dropped groceries they continued on their way. When they reached the house Shino set the bags down inside. There was no doubt in his mind that his father would come and get them. Kariko was about to go inside as well when she noticed something.

"Hinata dear, you have a butterfly in your hair," she said.

Hinata reached up on top of her head and gently felt around. Eventually her hand came back holding a beutiful butterfly. The small insect had pale blue wings with red stripes running along them. On the underside of the wings there was a small splash of neon green. Shino's eyes widened in shock. Why did that butterfly come and land Hinata? Of all the insects living in his family's yard why was it that one? Thinking nothing of the small creature Hinata let it fly into the air. The butterfly fluttered around Shino for a a second before disappearing into the sky. Kariko smiled and Shino still looked surprised.

"Um, Shino is something wrong?" Hinata asked gently.

Shino shook his head and looked down, cathing a glimpse of his watch. Damn! He was supposed to meet Tenten and Sasuke for trainging. That was probably over by now. Him and Sasuke were also supposed to go to the barbecue place for lunch.

"Grandma I forgot something, I have to go." Shino said calmly, but quickly.

"Alright dear," Kariko replied wit a smile. "Tell Sasuke that he shouldn't be a stranger." She turned to Hinata with a smile. "You either dear."

Hinata was in the middle of a bow when Shino grabbed her by the hand a hurried off of the compound. Kariko smiled at the young duo. For someone so observant her grandson could be blind to the most obvious things. Shino continued down the street with Hinata close behind.

"Shino?"

Shino looked over his shoulder. "I was supposed to meet Sasuke at the barbecue place for lunch," he clarified. "You're welcome to come if you want." All thoughts of the butterfly had flown from his mind for now.

'_He wants me to join him and Sasuke. He rarely invites anyone to do anything. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought,' _Hinata thought gleefully.

The walk to the barbecue place was spent mostly in silence. That was normal though, considering that it was just the two of them. As they were nearing the resturaunt they saw Sasuke petting a rather large looking dog. Behind him was Tenten, waiting in a stunned silence. They saw a tall blond girl dressed entirely in black standing just behind Sasuke. Her hair was pulled back into four seperate ponytails. She had a lithe figure that was just meant for fighting. Strapped to the girl's back was a large fan of some sort. Both Hinata and Shino found it odd that Temari would come all of the way here from Suna. Especially since they hadn't heard about any meeting between the Leaf and Sand villages. Deciding to go check it out the two of them walked over.

"Sasuke. You haven't changed a bit," Temari said.

Sasuke stood up and turned around. "Neither have you."

A smirk formed over Temari's pretty face. She walked up to Sasuke and without warning threw her arms around him. Sasuke reached around and gave her a pat on the back with his right hand. "I missed you," Temari whispered. Sasuke didn't say anything but gave her a slight nod.

Tenten was shocked to say the least. Neither Temari nor Sasuke were the touchy feely sort. Yet here they were hugging one another. "What is going on here?!" She blurted out.

"I was wondering the same."

"Shino!"

Sasuke broke away from Temari and turned around. Shino and Hinata were standing directly in front of him. Hinata as usual, looked rather nervous to be around him. Shino on the other hand just looked like he wanted some answers.

"You're late," Sasuke answered. Shino didn't say anything to this but merely adjusted his glasses. "And I see Hinata is joining us."

Hinata blushed and nodded. "If it's alright," she said timidly.

"What's going on here?" Temari asked.

'_That's what i would like to know,' _Tenten thought. She turned to Temari and gave her a small smile. "We were just going to lunch. Would you like to join us?" She asked politely.

"I'm starving! I would love to!" The blond kunoichi turned around and grabbed Sasuke's arm. Sasuke glared at her but she didn't let go. "C'mon I'm starving!" She walked into the resturaunt pulling Sasuke behind her. The wolf bounded in after them.

Tenten, Shino, and Hinata all shared a curious glance before following after them. Inside of the resturaunt, Sasuke and Temari were looking for a place to sit. Because of the wolf they were getting some very strange looks. No one dared to anything though when they saw that the wolf was with Sasuke. Temari glanced around the resturaunt and an evil smirk came over her face. Sitting at one of the tables was Naruto, Ino, and Choji. A crop of black hair that she recognized as Shikamaru's stuck out from over the large booth. She smiled and made straight for them with the others in tow.

"I can't believe that I agreed to pay for this," Naruto muttered.

"It's the least that you can do after she saved your life."

"What?! She saved your life to!"

"Technicality," Shikamaru answerd dismissively.

"He is right you know," Ino answered. "Hey here comes Sasuke!"

Shikamaru turned in the booth just as Sasuke was walking up. "Sasuke," he greeted. His eyes landed on the blond behind him and a groan escaped his lips. "Great. What are you doing here?" He asked in a somewhat joking tone of voice.

Temari pouted and rubbed her arm. "What's the matter? Did I interrupt you during a crying jag?"

"Troublesome sand witch."

Tenten and Hinata were still in shock at the new arrival but smiled all the same. They caught the good natured ribbing between the two and Tenten always suspected that there was some chemistry there. Ino on the other 

hand did not look happy to see Temari. The sand kunoichi was very close to Shikamaru and it unnerved her slightly. The others sensed the tension from her but Choji was the first to act.

"You guys want to join us?" He asked, swallowing a large bite of beef. "Naruto's buying."

"Hey wait a minute!" Naruto cried.

"Well if he's paying," Sasuke said.

Temari sat down next to Shikamaru and Sasuke sat down next to her. The others scooted over to make room. Hinata was seated next to Naruto with Shino next to her and Tenten next to him. The wolf took a seat next on the floor next to Sasuke. After they ordered (which took a while because Hinata was stammering from being so close to Naruto) someone finally asked the big question.

"So what are you doing here Temari?" Choji asked.

"Yeah. And what's with the mutt?" Naruto grumbled. He was still in a bad mood about having to pay for everyone.

The wolf growled at Naruto and Temari glared at him. "He isn't a mutt," she murmured. Temari reached a gloved hand over Sasuke and pet the wolf on his head. "His name is Sanga and he's a wolf!"

With the exception of Sasuke and Shino everyone looked at her like she was nuts. Tenten glanced down at the wolf and smiled. "I guess that he is pretty cute," she said.

Sanga barked and walked over to Tenten and looked up at her curiously. Sasuke readied himself to move if necessary. Sanga didn't do to well around new people. Surprisingly after a second he just barked and returned to Sasuke.

"Okay," Shikamaru said with a shake of his head. "So what are you doing here?"

"Oh, he speaks," Shikamaru scowled at her and she smiled. "I'm here on vacation."

"F-for how l-long?" Hinata asked.

Temari shrugged. "For however long I want to stay. Our village isn't doing much so Gaara gave time off."

"Why did you choose here? Why not a place you haven't been to?" Ino asked.

"It would seem to me that she came to see Sasuke," Shino answered blankly.

"Th-that's not the reason!" Temari cried.

Tenten's curiosty was peaked now. It was obvious that was one of the reasons. Something must have happened between them to make Temari act like that. "So why did you come to see Sasuke?"

Temari glared at her but Sasuke's face, as always, remained impassive. "I spent time in Suna," he answered simply.

"When?!" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's eyes shifted over to Naruto. He knew that if he didn't say something soon Naruto wouldn't shut up. Besides it wasn't a huge secret. "After our second fight." Naruto cringed, remembering that the outcome of the fight wasn't in his favor. "Orochimaru and I didn't see eye to eye."

**Flashback**

"What the hell were you thinking? Trying to take all of them on by yourself?"

"You could have helped."

"I would have cramped your style."

Sasuke turned to look at the young man next to him. He was tall with white hair and dark brown eyes. He used a finger to push his large round glasses up the bridge of his nose. Yakushi Kabuto walked in a confident stride beside his master's young disciple. Kabuto was a dangerous man that often underplayed his strengths in order to lull his opponents into a false sense of security. He was a medical ninja that used his talents for taking lives rather than saving them. Definitley not the type of person to be taken lightly.

"Besides it's not like they stood a chance against you anyways," Kabuto said.

Sasuke said nothing as the two of them walked down the dark halls of Orochimaru's lair. Their footsteps echoed around the stone halls, the only other sound was the burning of torches. Sasuke felt a little dizzy after the prolonged battle he just had. If it wasn't for Kakashi showing up he would have killed all of them for sure. The two ninja walked through a set of double doors into a large empty room. At the other end of the room was a throne with a lone occupant. Orochimaru, the snake sannin, sat on the throne with a sly smirk on his face. There was an icy air about the man that never left him. As soon as people set eyes on his pale, snake like features the warmth would leave their bodies. Sasuke had grown to hate the man over the years that he served him. Still, he needed Orochimaru for his training.

As Sasuke and Kabuto neared the throne, Orochimaru abandoned his thinking stance. "So the valiant warriors return," he said in his mocking voice. Neither Sasuke nor Kabuto said anything to this. Both of them stood still waiting for orders from their master. "A very impressive display Sasuke," he said.

"Hn."

"You have come far in your training." Out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke could see Kabuto's eyes widen in shock. No one knew Orochimaru like the white haired nin. It also was no easy task to shake Kabuto up. Something big was about to happen. "I would say about three years of it."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in defiance. Just as he thought, Orochimaru never had any intention of fully training him. All he was waiting for was for his body to reach maturity. Not only that he waited until he was weakened so he had no chance to defend himself. His eyes glanced from side to side looking for an escape. Orochimaru snapped his fingers and two shadows fell upon Sasuke. He looked up and saw that two sound ninja were coming down from the cieling. Sasuke wasn't ready to lose himself to Orochimaru, not yet. He drew his few reamaing shuriken from his pouch and threw them with all of his might. His projectiles hit dead on, knocking the two ninja out of the air. The next thing Sasuke knew he was on the ground with a kunai to his throat. His coal colored eyes looked up and saw Kabuto on top of him.

"Bring him to me Kabuto," Orochimaru ordered.

Kabuto looked at Sasuke and whispered to him. Sasuke ave him a hard firm look but didn't say anything. "I'm sorry," Kabuto said.

Before Kabuto could pull him up off of the ground Sasuke started to sink into the floor. It was like his body was becoming one with the stone floor. Kabuto looked surprised just as Sasuke disappeared completely. Sasuke's body melded completely with the floor. When he came out the other side he fell from the ceiling an hit the ground hard. Sasuke groaned in pain and got to his feet. Using the small amount of chakra for that jutsu drained him badly. He couldn't rest now though, it wouldn't be long before Orochimaru's guards came for him. Thankfully he already had his chokuto and most of his equipment on him. The young Uchiha started to run through the winding halls trying to find the exit. Up around the corner two guards were standing at the third exit.

Sasuke reached into his pouch pulling out his last kunai and an exploding tag. He wrapped the tag around the kunai and activated the tag. Just as the tag was about to explode, he reached around the cornere and threw the kunai. As soon as the blade it the door it erupted in a firey explosion. The blast killed the two guards outright and weakened the wooden door. Shouts reached his ears, echoing from all around the halls. Sasuke made a beeline for the door and slammed his body into it. The wood gave away and his body rolled across the ground. Sasuke threw the rest of his tags on the ground as a trap and activated them for movement. Quickly he sped off as fast as his injured body could carry him.

For two days Sasuke ran with no rest, no food and no water. The sun was blaring down on him and he was vaguely aware that he had entered the Suna territory. This made evident by the vast desert in front of him. His throat was dry and every muscle in his body screamed at him to stop. But there was no telling if Orochimaru was tracking him, so he couldn't stop. Sasuke stuck to the wide canyons of the desert area for protection against the unrelenting sun. Then on the second day he came across a rather strange sight. Two men had a huge furry object trapped against the canyon wall and were swiping at it with katanas. When they came into view Sasuke saw that the furry object was actually a large wolf. At first Sasuke wondered why the canine didn't fight back; the men didn't seem strong and with his size he could kill them easily. That's when Sasuke saw that the creature's leg was cut open. Sasuke reached behind his back and closed his hand around the hilt of his chokuto.

"Abomination!" One of the men cried out.

The man raised his blade to attack but was struck down by Sasuke's chokuto. The other man was so surprised that he didn't have a chance to react before Sasuke slit his throat open. In one swift motion he sheathed his chokuto and walked away. A light tapping sound behind him made Sasuke stop in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder and saw the wolf standing there. It was larger than most wolves and stood at a little over half of his own height. Sasuke ignored the wolf and turned back around. He started to walk away but his left leg gave out and he stumbled to the ground. The wolf walked over and nudged him in the side with it's head.

"...Go away," Sasuke muttered darkly. The wolf didn't budge from it's spot. "I said leave!" He swiped his hand at the wolf but didn't hit it. Still the wolf refused to move. "Baka," Sasuke said.

The wolf gave a small growl of displeasure and sniffed in an indignant way. Sasuke quirked a curious eyebrow. It seemed that the wolf understood exactly what he was saying. Sasuke stood up and walked a couple of feet away. The wolf followed him and stopped when he did. It seemed as though the creature was going to follow him whether he wanted it to or not. Sasuke walked all day long with the wolf always staying a couple of feet behind him. When night fell he stopped and and made a fire. Unlike most normal wolves this one didn't seem too frightened by the fire. Sasuke sat on a nearby by rock and shook his head. This was the first rest he had gotten in two days. His stomach growled for food and his throat burned for the want of water.

"You don't happen to know where water is do you?" The wolf lifted it's head off of the ground and looked at him. "Great. Now I'm talking to a wolf."

The wolf gripped Sasuke's shirt with his teeth and started to tug on it. Sasuke got the hint and followed after his new traveling companion. The wolf led him through the canyons and to a quarry. There in the moonlight Sasuke could see the shimmer of water. Without hesitating he dropped down and scooped the water into his mouth. The cool liquid had never tasted so good to Sasuke in his entire life. When he drank his feel he sat down and glanced at the wolf. The canine's leg was still injured. Sasuke tore off a piece of his shirt sleeve and dipped it in the water. The wolf watched curiously as Sasuke squeezed the water from the rag. Sasuke approached the wolf with the bandage. Sensing no ill intent from the man the wolf watched Sasuke bandage his leg.

"At least I can I have an intelligent conversation now," Sasuke said. Reluctantly he reached over and gave the wolf a pat on the head. "Looks like it's just us."

"I wouldn't say that!"

Sasuke recieved a sharp blow to the head that knocked him to the ground. The wolf jumped back in confusion. Sasuke looked up and saw three men standing over him. His vision was blurring but he could make out the Sunagakure headbands.

"If it isn't Uchiha Sasuke," the leader sneered. "Can you imagine how much money we'll get for capturing him. Get him up!"

The two men moved to grab Sasuke but a growl cut their movement short. The wolf stood over Sasuke, growling at the two men in warning. Sasuke tried to tell the wolf to leave but he couldn't get the words out. Suddenly a loud crackling noise filled the air. Electricity was coursing through the wolf's fur, it got bigger and bigger until the wolf almost glowed yellow. To Sasuke's surprise the wolf discharged two large blasts of electricity. The bolts of energy struck the two ninja and launched them into a canyon wall. The leader barely had time to pull his kunai before the wolf tackled him to the ground. The wolf growled fiercly making the man tremble.

"Enough!" A strong but obviously female voice commanded from the shadows. Sasuke saw another figure appear just before he blacked out.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and squeezed shut almost instantly. The light was so bright that it burned his weak eyes. Sasuke tried again, this time opening his eyes slowly. It took a moment for his eyes to get adjusted to the light. He glanced around the sterile white walls of the small cirular room. There was a small square tablenext to the bed, some pictures on the wall, and a couple of windows. At the far end of the room was a single wooden door. The sheets of his bed were white and-bed?! How did he get into a bed?! For that matter, where the hell was he? This whole place was unfamiliar.

'_Alright Sasuke stay cool,'_ he told himself. _'First thing is to survey your surroundings. White walls, white sheets, windows with white curtains, and a white floor are what I have to go on. Hmmmm...a hospital. I'm in a hospital! Well that's not very encouraging. Okay, now where is this hospital? I can find that out later. How did I get here?'_

"Mmmmm!"

Sasuke turned around trying to find the source of the groan. A few feet away a young girl was curled up in a chair fast asleep. He couldn't tell that much about her because of the blanket that covered her body. All he could tell was that she was pretty and had a lot of messy blond hair. She looked very familiar but he just couldn't place her in his mind. Whoever she was, it was a safe bet that she was the one that brought him here. The first thing that he had to do was get out of the hospital and find out where he was. Sasuke pushed some hair out of his eyes and sat up with a small grunt. His right shoulder, torso, and entire left leg were sore as hell and thickly bandaged. He had to get out of here. As long as he was here this place as well as himself were in danger.

"Okay. One step at a time."

"And where do you think you are going?" Asked a demanding voice.

Sasuke didn't bother turning around. "I'm leaving," he answered firmly.

He heard some footsteps and found himself staring at a set of long feminine legs with athletically toned muscles. His onyx eyes traveled up the feminine body until they met a pair of brown eyes. "You're not going anywhere with those injuries."

Sasuke definitely knew the woman from somewhere. But was this kunoichi a friend or a foe? "Are you sure you have the ability to stop me?"

"Maybe not. But are you so confident in your Uchiha blood that you would try?"

"...Seems we are on unequal footing. You know me but I have no idea who you are."

The blond frowned. "You don't remember me. I'm crushed," she said in mock indignation.

That haughty, sarcastic voice made something in Sasuke's memory spark. The Chuunin exams came flooding back to him just like that. "...Temari," he monotoned.

"That's more like it," Temari said. She smirked and tossed a black bag on to the bed. "Get dressed. Meet me outside."

After getting dressed in his usual outfit Sasuke met Temari out in the hall. Together the two of them walked out of the hospital and into the dusty streets of Sunagakure. To say that the silence was tense would have been an understatement. Sasuke recieved several stares as they walked down the streets together. With one glare he was able to make them go away. Millions of questions were burning in his brain but he didn't voice them. Finally Temari opened her mouth.

"You were lucky we found you when we did," she said.

'_Real lucky? They knocked me unconcious.'_

"You were badly injured. I'm surprised you lived as long as you did with those injuries. They were made worse by the dehydration. Your also lucky I was able to convince Gaara to let you stay in the village. He doesn't think it's a good idea to have one of Orochimaru's followers around."

Sasuke vaguely remembered hearing that Gaara took over as the sand villages Kazekage. He also didn't blame Gaara for not wanting him around. "Former," Sasuke said bitterly. "I guess I'm going to jail then," he said indifferently.

Temari shook her head. "Gaara assigned me to look after you. Since I convinced him to let you stay I'm not to let you out of my sight. You're going to stay with me."

Sasuke didn't bother to comment on her apparent nervousness or the fact that he was staying. The first chance he got he was going to leave anyways. So Sasuke followed Temari to her apartment building. When they reached her apartment Sasuke stopped outside.

"I had a wolf with me," he said simply.

Temari scowled as she unlocked the door. "He was feisty so we had to tranquilize him. I locked him in my bathroom. He better not have messed anything up."

Temari's apartment was spacious and well decorated with many expensive objects. One of the perks to being the Kazekage's sister. Sasuke glanced down the hall and noticed one of the doors was open. "Is the bathroom second door on the right."

"Yeah. How did you-"

"He got out."

"What?!"

Temari looked down the hall and saw that the bathroom door was indeed opened a crack. Without thinking she ran to check it out. As soon as she reached the door it burst open, knocking her into the opposite wall. The wolf leaped out into the hall and upon seeing Sasuke bounded towards him. Sasuke couldn't react fast enough and was tackled on to the couch by the canine. The wolf licked his face and waited for Sasuke to pet him. Temari looked up and saw the wolf sitting on the couch.

"That's it!" She all but shouted. "I'm going to make a carpet out of him!" Temari stomped over to the couch.

As she got closer the wolf growled at her and she froze in her steps. Sasuke looked up from the wolf at Temari. "He knows that you threatened him."

"H-he knows?" She carefully walked over and sat next to the wolf. The wolf glared at her still. "Is he really that smart?"

Sasuke nodded. "The only reason he growled at you is because he thinks your an enemy."

"W-well I'm not!" She said to the wolf. The wolf cocked his head and gently sniffed the blond's hand. After a second he decided that she wasn't a threat to him or Sasuke and nudged her hand. Temari reached out and tentatively patted him on the head. "Hey! He's kind of cute when you look at him! What's his name?"

"He's a wolf," Sasuke said. How the hell was he supposed to know it's name? Who names a wolf?!

"He should still have a name!"

Sasuke sighed and leaned back against the couch. "...Sanga."

The wolf made a barking noise to show that he liked the name.

**End Flashback**

"That's about it," Sasuke said. The other people around the table were paying rapt attention. "I stayed with Temari in Sunagakure for about six months before I left."

"After that I heard about all of the traveling he did. When I heard that he came back here and became an ANBU captain no less, I made plans to come back. I was only able to do it recently."

Sasuke got up from his seat and the others followed suit. They were finished eating and after Naruto payed they left the resturaunt. "So where ae you going to stay Temari," Tenten asked.

"Well that's the thing," Temari said quietly. It was very unlike her to be so quiet. "I don't really have much money. So I can't stay in a hotel. And I don't really have any place to go so..."

"Did you want to stay with me?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.

"I thought that you would never asked!" Temari nearly shouted, patting him on the shoulder. "Come on Sanga! Let's go get our things so we can stay at Sasuke's."

Sanga barked enthusiastically and followed after the girl. Shikamaru went to help help her and the girls followed to make plans with her. This left Shino, Naruto, Choji, and a stunned Sasuke that stood stock still. After regaining his wits Sasuke shook his head.

"What the hell just happened?" He asked in his blank monotone.

Shino walked over and clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "Sounds like you got yourself a roommate," he said. Though his voice sounded normal Sasuke detected a hint of amusement.

There was some snickering before Choji and Naruto bursted out in laughter. The laughter wouldn't last for long though. Soon they would find themselves on the wrong end of the sharingan.

**End Chapter**

* * *

**Okay! I know that it took me a long time to get this chapter out and I am very sorry for that. The reason i didn't include Sasuke and Naruto's second fight is because my friends said it was too much. However, if you all would like to see that (or hear more about Sasuke before he came back to Konoha) let me know. If enough people are interested I will definitley include that in some of my later chapters. Let me know what you guys thought. Peace!**


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